A San Francisco gallery proprietor who was caught on video spraying a homeless lady with a hose will probably be arrested and charged, prosecutors mentioned Wednesday.
Collier Gwin faces a cost of misdemeanor battery after being accused of deliberately and unlawfully spraying water on a girl who was sitting on a sidewalk outdoors his gallery, in keeping with the San Francisco district lawyer’s workplace, which mentioned it issued an arrest warrant for Gwin after reviewing the proof from a police investigation.
Video from the Jan. 9 incident exhibits Gwin leaning in opposition to a fence, one leg crossed over the opposite, spraying a homeless lady with a hose whereas she sits outdoors his enterprise, the Foster Gwin Gallery within the North Seashore neighborhood in San Francisco.
The lady tries to dam the water together with her palms as she speaks, however her phrases will not be decipherable.
Gwin stops spraying to level down the road and says, “Hey, simply transfer. Transfer. Transfer. Transfer. OK, are you going to maneuver? Are you going to maneuver?”
The incident was captured on video and posted to Twitter and TikTok, garnering tens of millions of views and prompting public outcry and a police investigation.
The lady, identified to homeless service suppliers and officers as “Q,” was hospitalized final week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, nevertheless it was unclear what she was being handled for.
After the video went viral, the window at Gwin’s gallery was shattered, in keeping with the district lawyer’s workplace.
“The alleged battery of an unhoused member of our group is totally unacceptable. Mr. Gwin will face applicable penalties for his actions,” Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins mentioned in a assertion. “Likewise, the vandalism at Foster Gwin Gallery can be unacceptable and should cease — two wrongs don’t make a proper.”
Gwin couldn’t be reached for remark Wednesday. It’s unclear whether or not the gallery area stays open.
On Monday, ABC7 in San Francisco reported that Gwin apologized for spraying the girl days after he had mentioned he discovered it “exhausting to apologize.”
“I do know it’s very exhausting to observe. I can solely ask others to perhaps higher perceive my breaking level,” Gwin informed the information outlet. “I’ve the video to continuously remind me that it is a giant cross to bear.”
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle final week, Gwin admitted that he sprayed the girl with water, alleging that she had turned over rubbish cans in entrance of his gallery.
“I mentioned, ‘It’s important to transfer; I can not clear the road; transfer down,’” Gwin informed the Chronicle.
Gwin alleged that the girl grew to become “belligerent” and started spitting.
“At that time she was so uncontrolled … I spray her with the hose and say, ‘Transfer, transfer, I’ll enable you to,’” he mentioned.
Gwin claimed that he had let the girl sleep in his gallery’s entryway a number of instances and had contacted police and social providers to attempt to get the girl assist, calling himself a “champion,” the Chronicle reported.
“So am I sorry? I’m solely sorry that … my approach of serving to her countlessly has gotten nothing executed,” Collier informed the Chronicle.
San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district consists of North Seashore, referred to as the incident an “unconscionable assault.”
“My workplace is effectively acquainted w/ the sufferer + have been making an attempt for a lot of months to get her assist” from the San Francisco Division of Public Well being, Peskin wrote final week on Twitter.
“It’s not North Seashore, it’s not who we’re as a group + we gained’t tolerate ‘vigilante’ assaults,” he wrote.
