A homeless man accused of wreaking havoc in the South Austin area explains his actions

Austin, Texas – A homeless man accused of wreaking havoc in the South Austin area has explained his actions. Locals say he uses a chainsaw and a machete to chop down trees in the middle of the night, and now he’s taking a sledgehammer to city property.

Residents of the Westgate area said the chainsaw-wielding lumberjack had returned.

“He just migrated to another part of the area,” said Westgate resident JJ ​​Pepper.

It is now adjacent to Cherry Creek Drive and Westgate Boulevard. Locals say that Rami Zawayde hit city property with a sledgehammer. A few months ago, the Watershed Conservation Authority placed boulders to keep people out of the waterfront.

This level of escalation with boulders is just very disturbing, this is our community, we have a walking trail 10 feet away from us, we really can’t let that happen,” said Cherry Creek resident Frankie Hefley.

Hoefli said a jogging neighbor saw Zawaide breaking boulders and asked him to stop. Now there’s a message written on the sidewalk: “Hey tough guy jogger, I’ll be back tonight or the day after FYI.”

Mental health is obviously an issue and we just don’t know when it will break down and move to another level,” Hoefley said.

“We tried to make it a place where families can come, and we succeeded. It’s been this way for a few years now and this threat is really worrisome,” said Terry Southwell, director of Cherry Creek. .

Zawaide is known for doing other things, such as throwing a machete at a pole in the Cherry Creek Community Garden, spray-painting boulders, creating sculptures, and screaming early in the morning.

“Screaming, swearing, and if it’s not right under the bridge, then somewhere in the stream, so it looks like where it comes from, which is a little unsettling,” Pepper said.

Residents say they have been struggling with this for about six months and want to do something.

“There should be something a professional can do about helping, but that person needs to be removed and rehabilitated so they can be brought back into the community because they’re just unwell,” Pepper said.

“When he gets arrested and it goes to court, something needs to be done there, because basically everything comes down to the court, the charges are dropped,” Hefley said.

After talking with the residents, Zawaide rode up on a bicycle. He didn’t want to be filmed but agreed to speak to FOX 7 to explain why he does what he does. Zawaide said that he had been working on these boulders for the last three nights and got rid of Satanism. He said he made the sculptures about two months ago because the landlord across the street is a Satanist and he wanted to present his work in front of a neighbor’s house.

The Watershed Conservation Department said they were aware of the situation and were assessing the damage. They said they were working with the Austin Police Department to file a criminal mischief report. APD said they were monitoring the area.

Court records show that Zawaide has two active trespass cases for trespassing and prosecutors have refused to file three other offenses.