San Francisco police arrested Collier Quinn, a gallery owner on Wednesday, who was caught on video spraying a homeless woman with a garden hose after she said she refused to leave the sidewalk he was cleaning.
Quinn will be charged Jan. 9 with “intentionally and unlawfully spraying water on a woman experiencing homelessness,” District Attorney Jenkins said in a statement released after reviewing evidence from the San Francisco Police Department.
“Alleged battery of a non-resident member of our community is completely unacceptable,” Jenkins continued. “Mr. Quinn will face the appropriate consequences for his actions.
Two days after the video went viral, the vandalism that took place after Foster Quinn’s gallery door was broken down and boarded up was also “unacceptable and must stop,” he added.
Quinn was arrested at or near his gallery around 3:30 p.m. If convicted, Quinn faces up to six months in county jail and a $2,000 fine.
As of last week, The woman, known in the Kew area, was admitted to hospitalBut her current condition was not immediately known Wednesday.
On Tuesday, nearly a week after the event, Quinn apologized and said he was committed to making amends. “Apologizing is hard,” he previously said.
A man who answered the intercom at Foster Quinn Gallery at 4:30pm Wednesday said Collier Quinn was not there. The front window of the gallery was replaced – and a sheet was draped over the window from the inside.
Businesses in nearby businesses had strong opinions about the incident and some were shocked to hear that an arrest warrant had been issued. Most people don’t want to comment.
A worker from a nearby business contested the arrest warrant, saying he sympathized with Quinn but disapproved of his actions in the video. She had an acquaintance with a homeless woman who shopkeepers have said yelled and caused chaos in the neighborhood.
“He’s probably broken,” said the worker. “Because she’s in front of his place.”
Chris C., a worker at Filson, a nearby clothing store, said he suspected the video of Quinn spraying the woman was “not an isolated incident” but an accurate representation of San Franciscans’ interactions with people who don’t live in the city. .
“I know other businesses in the area have issues with homelessness,” he said, criticizing the city for “not dealing with it.”
He said he saw the woman “a day or so” after the video was released.
She was surrounded by firefighters and paramedics, he said.
Alex Sakiyama, who was well acquainted with the woman, shrugged his shoulders when he heard about the warrant for Quinn.
“You shouldn’t spray people with hoses. That seems like common sense,” Sakiyama said.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Michael Cabanatuan contributed to this report.
Rachel Swann is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @rachelswan
