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A San Francisco gallery proprietor who was caught on video spraying a homeless girl with a hose was arrested and can be charged, authorities stated Wednesday.
Collier Gwin, 71, faces a cost of misdemeanor battery after being accused of deliberately and unlawfully spraying water on a girl who was sitting on a sidewalk exterior his gallery, in line with the San Francisco district lawyer’s workplace, which stated it issued an arrest warrant for Gwin after reviewing the proof from a police investigation.
Gwin was arrested at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and was booked at a county jail on the arrest warrant. The case stays an open investigation, police stated in an announcement.
Video from the Jan. 9 incident reveals Gwin leaning in opposition to a fence, one leg crossed over the opposite, spraying a homeless girl with a hose whereas she sits exterior his enterprise, the Foster Gwin Gallery within the North Seaside 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 hundreds of thousands of views and prompting public outcry and a police investigation.
The lady who was sprayed didn’t search to file prices in opposition to Gwin, in line with the district lawyer’s workplace, however prosecutors stated Wednesday that that they had sufficient proof to proceed.
The lady, identified to homeless service suppliers and officers as “Q,” was hospitalized final week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, but it surely was unclear what she was being handled for.
After the video went viral, the window at Gwin’s gallery was shattered, in line with the district lawyer’s workplace.
“The alleged battery of an unhoused member of our group is totally unacceptable. Mr. Gwin will face acceptable penalties for his actions,” Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins stated in a statement. “Likewise, the vandalism at Foster Gwin Gallery can also 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 lady days after he had stated he discovered it “laborious to apologize.”
“I do know it’s very laborious to observe. I can solely ask others to perhaps higher perceive my breaking level,” Gwin informed the information outlet. “I’ve the video to consistently remind me that this can be a massive cross to bear.”
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle final week, Gwin admitted that he sprayed the lady with water, alleging that she had turned over rubbish cans in entrance of his gallery.
“I stated, ‘You need to transfer; I can’t clear the road; transfer down,’” Gwin informed the Chronicle.
Gwin alleged that the lady turned “belligerent” and started spitting.
“At that time she was so uncontrolled … I spray her with the hose and say, ‘Transfer, transfer, I’ll aid you,’” he stated.
Gwin claimed that he had let the lady sleep in his gallery’s entryway a number of occasions and had contacted police and social providers to attempt to get the lady 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 accomplished,” Collier informed the Chronicle.
San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district consists of North Seaside, known 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 Seaside, it’s not who we’re as a group + we received’t tolerate ‘vigilante’ assaults,” he wrote.
If convicted, Gwin may resist six months in county jail and a $2,000 effective, prosecutors stated.
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