San Francisco business owner arrested for pouring water on homeless man

San Francisco Police Department officers on Wednesday arrested a business owner who filmed water splashing on a homeless woman sitting in front of his gallery in Jackson Square on Jan. 9.

“After an investigation by the San Francisco Police Department and review of all evidence presented, my office has issued an arrest warrant for Collier Gwyn,” San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement broadcast by KGO-TV.

According to a press release, Gwyn was charged with a misdemeanor offense by authorities for “allegedly intentionally and unlawfully spraying water on and around a homeless woman on January 9, 2022.”

Next @SFPDinvestigation and consideration of all evidence provided, my office has issued a warrant for the arrest of Collier Gwyn. Gwyn is charged with an administrative offense for allegedly intentionally and illegally spraying water on and around a homeless woman on 01/09/22.

— Brooke Jenkins 謝安宜 (@BrookeJenkinsSF) January 19, 2023

The police arrived at the gallery at 4:00 pm on Wednesday and escorted Gwin to a patrol car. According to CBS News, the arrest proceeded without incident.

“The alleged beating of a homeless member of our community is completely unacceptable. Mr Gwin will face appropriate consequences for his actions,” Jenkins said.

Wednesday’s arrest comes a week after bystanders filmed Gwin spraying water from a hose on a woman in front of his gallery.

A video of the incident posted on Twitter by British journalist Anthony Davies shows a woman sitting by a tree begging Gwyn to stop as he sprays her with water several times.

MASTER MAINTENANCE Collier Gwin has been charged with a misdemeanor offense after being accused of deliberately and illegally pouring water on a homeless woman who was sitting on the sidewalk outside his gallery in San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/ffAgxQzstR

— Anthony Davis (@theanthonydavis) January 19, 2023

“I thought it was really disturbing. I think that this is not normal, no matter how worried you are in this or that situation. I think it’s wrong to splash water on someone,” neighbor Alex Sakiyama told KGO-TV.

According to Sakiyama, the sprayed woman was familiar to all the neighbors. He told KGO-TV that he often hears her screaming at night.

“She often slept here naked, she stayed here, yes. I don’t know if it was bad enough to attack her,” Sakiyama said, according to the news station.

When KGO-TV first approached Gwin, he refused to apologize, according to the publication.

However, as the video went viral, he eventually apologized several times, according to CBS News.

“What they saw is very unfortunate,” Gwin said in an interview with KPIX-TV.

“I feel terrible not only because I want to get out of trouble or something like that, but also because I made a huge effort to help this woman on the street,” he said.

“I’m very, very sorry. I’m not going to defend myself; I’m not going because I can’t defend it,” he added, according to the publication.

Gwin faces up to six months in prison and a $2,000 fine if found guilty.

“I’m cleaning up her mess again,” Gwyn told CBS last week. “Washing it, trying to clean things, and I just broke. I was watering around her and I just snapped when she went off into her warlike and tongues and stuff. And I just clicked, pulled the hose up and sprayed her.”

“When I look at myself in the film, I can’t even believe it’s me,” Gwin said. “But I didn’t know what else to do. It was so frustrating.”

Gwin, a 45-year-old resident of the city, told CBS News that prior to the incident, he tried to help the woman several times, including spending days cleaning up all the mess she left behind.

According to Gwin, the woman frequently pushed trash cans and scared away his customers, according to CBS News. Wednesday’s confrontation came as he was cleaning up a mess she made, Gwyn said, according to CBS News.

This article originally appeared in The Western Journal.

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