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San Francisco police on Wednesday arrested Collier Gwin, the gallery owner who was filmed spraying a homeless woman with a garden hose after he said she refused to move off a sidewalk he was cleaning.
Gwin will be charged with misdemeanor battery “for the alleged intentional and unlawful spraying of water on and around a homeless woman” on Jan. San Francisco.
“The alleged assault by a homeless member of our community is completely unacceptable,” continued Jenkins. “Sir. Gwin will face appropriate consequences for his actions.”
She added that the subsequent vandalism of the Foster Gwin Gallery, which had a door broken and boarded up two days after the video went viral, was also “unacceptable and must stop”.
Gwin was arrested around 3:30 pm in or near his gallery. If convicted, Gwin faces up to six months in county jail and a $2,000 fine.
Since last week, the woman, known in the area as Q, has been hospitalized, but her current situation on Wednesday was not immediately clear.
On Tuesday, nearly a week after the event, Gwin apologized, saying he was committed to making amends. He previously said that he found it “hard to apologize”.
A person who answered the intercom at the Foster Gwin Gallery at 4:30 pm on Wednesday said Collier Gwin was not there. The front window of the gallery was replaced – and a sheet was placed over the window from the inside.
Nearby business traders had strong opinions about the incident and some seemed surprised to learn that an arrest warrant had been issued. Most declined to comment.
An employee of a nearby company objected to the arrest warrant, saying she sympathized with Gwin but disapproved of his actions in the video. She was familiar with the unprotected woman, who shopkeepers said had screamed and caused disturbances in the neighborhood.
“It probably just broke,” said the worker. “Because she is right in front of his house.”
Chris C., an employee at Filson, a nearby clothing store, said he suspects the scene captured in the video showing Gwin spraying the woman “is not an isolated incident” but an adequate representation of San Francisco residents’ interactions with the public. homeless from the city. .
“I know other businesses in the area have had issues with homelessness,” he said, criticizing the city for “not dealing with it.”
He said he had seen the woman “a day or two” after the video surfaced.
She was surrounded by firefighters and paramedics, he said.
Alex Sakiyama, a neighborhood resident who also knew the woman, shrugged his shoulders upon hearing about the warrant for Gwin, who he said had been “offside” after the hose before finally apologizing.
“You shouldn’t spray people with hoses. That seems like common sense,” Sakiyama said.
San Francisco Chronicle writer Michael Cabanatuan contributed to this report.
Rachel Swan is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
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