An San Francisco art gallery owner who sprayed a homeless woman with a hose has been arrested, police have said. Collier Gwin, 71, has been charged with misdemeanour battery, after a video of him spraying the woman outside his gallery on 9 January caused outrage. He faces up to six months in prison and a $2,000 (£1,600) fine, the city’s district attorney said. Mr Gwin has since apologised for his actions, describing them as indefensible.
In the clip which went viral online, he was seen standing outside his business, directing the stream of water directly onto the woman sitting on the pavement outside for several seconds – eventually stopping to tell her to move away.
Among those who expressed outrage at the video was the city’s mayor London Breed, who said last week it reminded her of how police treated civil rights protesters during the 1960s.
One local man, Alex Sakiyama, told San Francisco news station ABC7 he felt the incident was “really disturbing”, adding that the woman sleeps rough in the local area and can often be heard screaming at night.
“I think it’s not okay no matter how bothered you are in any given situation. I think it’s not okay to spray water at someone,” he said.
Announcing the charge, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said: “The alleged battery of an unhoused member of our community is completely unacceptable. Mr Gwin will face appropriate consequences for his actions.”
But she also noted that “the vandalism at Foster Gwin gallery is also completely unacceptable and must stop – two wrongs don’t make a right”.
San Francisco Police originally responded to the incident on Montgomery Street in the city’s Financial District around midday local time on 9 January, but said both Mr Gwin and the woman “declined further police action at that time”, the force said.
But the investigation was later handed over to the the force’s Street Crisis Response Team, who investigated the incident further and requested an arrest warrant from the district attorney.
Speaking to local radio station KPIX last week, Mr Gwin said: “I’m very, very sorry, I’m not going to defend myself, I’m not going to, because I can’t defend that.”
He told the station the incident had happened after trying to get the woman help, letting her sleep in his doorway for days and cleaning up after her.
Mr Gwin added he and other local business owners had previously called police and social services more than 20 times over two weeks.
Source: BBC
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