According to San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, a warrant for Collier Gwin’s arrest was issued on Wednesday. Surveillance footage shows Collier Gwin spraying a homeless woman with a hose as she sat on a sidewalk on Montgomery Street in the city’s North Beach neighbourhood.
According to Jenkins, Gwin was charged with misdemeanour violence for his actions on January 9 that were caught on camera and went viral online early last week.
If found guilty, Gwin faces up to six months in county jail and a $2,000 fine, according to the district attorney’s office.
“The alleged abuse of an unhoused member of our community is simply unacceptable,” Jenkins said in her statement. “Mr. Gwin will face the appropriate consequences for his actions. Because two wrongs do not equal a right, the vandalism at the Foster Gwin gallery is also completely unacceptable and must be stopped.
After the video went viral, the gallery’s door was broken, and a wave of negative Yelp reviews reduced the company’s average rating to one star. The owners of the Barbarossa Lounge, whose exterior can be seen behind Gwin in the video but is unrelated to Gwin, claim they have received hundreds of nasty and threatening messages from viewers who mistakenly believe Gwin works for their establishment.
Gwin stated in media interviews that the woman became combative and began yelling at him while he was attempting to clean the sidewalk where she was seated. He claimed he had called the San Francisco Police Department up to 25 times for help, and that the woman had been loitering in front of his building and nearby businesses for about two weeks. He claimed that the woman was told by police that she needed to get moving that morning.
According to the district attorney’s office, the woman in the video chose not to press charges against Gwin, but the police department’s investigation produced enough evidence to support a misdemeanour battery prosecution. The district attorney’s office stated that once Gwin is detained and issued a citation, an arraignment will be scheduled.
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