By Melrose L. Sprague Santa Monica
I am a 28-year resident of Santa Monica living North of Wilshire Boulevard. I work at Santa Monica High School and have enjoyed living here. The recently growing homeless segment has been a focal point for many Santa Monicans. I have seen many changes over the past 28 years, but a recent experience has changed the way I view homelessness forever.
On Wednesday evening, Aug. 23, at approximately 7:15 p.m. I pulled into the CVS/Sav-On store at 1411 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica.
I exited my vehicle in which I left my two grandchildren while I dashed inside to pick up photos from the one hour development. I was asked by one of two homeless men sitting in front of the store for money. I politely ignored him. He shouted,“When you come out, when you come out?” When I exited the store he was on his feet demanding a handout. I told him I didn’t have any, and he suddenly ran right up in my face. I said “sir, please get out of my face.”Then he shoved me with both hands and started punching me. A man exiting the store witnessed the incident and he distracted my attacker long enough for me to run to my vehicle. The homeless guy charged the good samaritan, who then ran back inside the store.
I reached my vehicle and tried to start the engine. My two grandchildren had witnessed the entire event and were both hysterical. The 12-year-old was screaming “Drive the car, Nana, drive the car.” His younger sister was crying uncontrollably. I attempted to get the car started and into gear while the homeless man punched at me through the open window. As I got the window closed and the car moving, he simulated a gun with his hand and started “shooting” the car, all the while unleashing a barrage of filthy names and threats. I got the car in reverse and started out of the parking lot. He followed alongside the car still ranting and raving and pretending to shoot us. I stopped at the end of the parking lot to view oncoming traffic to avoid having an accident while fleeing this man.
At this point he stood in front of my vehicle and blocked me. For a split second, I contemplating running him down. Then sanity took over and I backed my car up and swung back into a parking space. Grabbing my cell phone, I attempted to call 911. The man again approached the car, still screaming threats and insults. After what seemed like eternity he left while I patiently waited for 911 to answer. It took a very long time but I was scared to hang up and lose my place. After what seemed like 15 minutes but was probably five or 10, I hung up and called 411 which gave me the SMPD’s number.
After speaking with them I got out of the car and spoke with the night manager of CVS. He said “I knew they were out here.” I said, “You knew they were out here harassing customers and you did nothing?” He replied that usually when he calls the police either they don’t come or when they do the homeless have left the area. I was furious that he knew a threat existed and did nothing but choose to deal with that issue at a later time.
The Santa Monica Police were there in less than five minutes. After telling my story and describing the homeless man, the officer told me to wait for five minutes and he would be back. Sure enough he came back and told me they had apprehended a suspect and needed me to come with him to see if I could identify him. The officer told me to be sure that I was identifying the suspect as the man that actually attacked me, not just because he was a handcuffed suspect. It struck me that his rights were being protected even while he had completely violated my rights. To me his rights ended the minute he violated mine by accosting, terrorizing and assaulting me and traumatizing my grand-children.
I was easily able to identify him and had no doubts recognizing him. How I’ll ever be able to forget him is the question. The police officer then interviewed the witness separate from myself. He then went over everything with me. He told me I had two options; I could request that the guy be taken to the hospital for mental evaluations or I could press charges and he would be charged with two misdemeanors. I chose the latter and followed up with a call to the police chief’s office and subsequently to the detective handling my case. I spoke with the detective today. The District Attorney chose not to handle it as a felony. I will have to go to court whenever the man is brought up on misdemeanor charges.
I did learn several things from this incident. First, I feel that merchants are responsible for what occurs on their property and for the safety of their customers. I am planning on taking this issue up further with CVS/Sav-On.
I learned that if you call 911 from a cell phone your call is routed thought the California Highway Patrol system, which also handles the call boxes on the freeway calls. It takes forever to get to anybody. The police officer gave me a local number to call which connects you right to police headquarters right here in Santa Monica. I programmed that number in my cell phone under AAA so it’s the first number I see on my contact list.
The police department also advised me to carry pepper spray, which is legal to carry in amounts under 1 oz. It will render a person incapacitated instantly if sprayed in the eyes and give you time to get away from an attacker.
My grandchildren will get over this and hopefully so will I. But I will never again view a homeless person the same way. I will be more diligent and aware of my surroundings, even in beautiful Santa Monica.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 30, 2006. Read the original PDF.