San Francisco man who hosed down homeless woman gets community service

San Francisco gallery owner who hosed down distraught homeless woman loitering outside his business is sentenced to 35 hours of community service: Lawyer says businessman has already ‘paid a high price’ for his ‘act of frustration’

• Collier Gwin, 72, will do 35 hours of volunteer work with Third Baptist Church 
• Gwin said he let his emotions get the better of him in the moment, but remains frustrated with the city’s inability to deal with the rampant homeless problem 
• Once the community service is complete, the charge brought against Gwin by DA Brooke Jenkins will disappear from his record 

The San Francisco gallerist who was caught on video spraying a homeless, mentally ill woman with a hose after she repeatedly refused to move from in front of his business, accepted 35 hours of community service as a pre-trial diversion.

The deal was offered to Collier Gwin by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, which initially charged Gwin with a misdemeanor after the video went viral on social media.

Gwin, 72,  faced intense backlash from the community where he’s lived for the last 42 years, though some were sympathetic to his plight and to the reality that, for weeks, the city had failed to intervene.

He was eventually arrested by SF DA Brooke Jenkins, who charged him with misdemeanor battery.

‘The City of San Francisco also should be held accountable. Regular citizens are not equipped to deal with these types of problems. At the very least, the city should provide safe and clean streets and sidewalks in exchange for our tax dollars. It is a minimal duty,’ said Collier Gwin. 

Jenkins has oft been criticized for her soft on crime policies, which some argue have helped lead to the way for the current drug-addled homeless population that has spread across the city unimpeded by law enforcement or the local government.

In the deal reached with Jenkins’ office, Gwin will volunteer for 35 hours at Third Baptist Church with civil rights champion Reverend Amos C. Brown. 

Once that period of service is completed, the charge against Gwin will be ‘diverted out of the criminal justice system, dismissed and he will have no criminal record,’ according to a press release.

Douglas Rappaport, an attorney for Gwin, described his client’s unsavory action as ‘an act of frustration that came after weeks of attempts to get police and social services agencies to help the mentally ill woman.’

‘Collier has paid a high price, with physical damage to his property and immense reputational damage from the video of the event. Sadly, there is no video – but there are many records – of his and his neighbors’ numerous attempts to assist the woman prior to this incident,’ he added.

Gwin himself said that he ‘should not have tried to take matters into my own hands; I ultimately let my frustration get the better of me after more than two weeks of trying to help her.’

‘I have apologized and will continue to make amends. I look forward to working with Rev. Dr. Amos Brown and Third Baptist Church.

‘That said, the City of San Francisco also should be held accountable. Regular citizens are not equipped to deal with these types of problems. At the very least, the city should provide safe and clean streets and sidewalks in exchange for our tax dollars. It is a minimal duty,’ he concluded.

According to Gwin’s press release, discovery in the case proved that on many occasions before the incident, Gwin and other business owners in the vicinity requested that city agencies assist the unhoused woman with her struggles.

A shot of Gwin hosing down the homeless woman, whom he had attempted to assist several times in the past

Gwin’s gallery shares a wall with a restaurant called Barbarossa Lounge, which is where Gwin was seen leaning against a gate in the video. Gwin is not associated with the restaurant 

DA Brooke Jenkins has oft been criticized for her soft on crime policies, which some argue have helped lead to the way for the current drug-addled homeless population that has spread across the city unimpeded by law enforcement or the local government 

In the 25 days prior to the hosing incident, the City’s emergency management office received 50 calls from the gallery’s neighborhood about issues pertaining to homeless people.

According to a police report of the incident, local business owners described the homeless woman as being ‘severely mentally ill’ and ‘behaving in ways that frightened and offended customers and employees,’ according to the release.

Additionally, several business owners told a responding officer that they have all had a history of problems with the homeless woman and that Gwin had made attempts in the past to help her.

The woman, who ultimately declined to press charges, was not injured by the garden hose. One day after the video went viral, the woman was placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold. 

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