Collier Gwin agrees to pretrial diversion and community service in viral homeless case

Jackson Square business owner: City must do better

SAN FRANCISCO, July 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A San Francisco judge today approved a pretrial diversion agreement for Collier Gwin, the Jackson Square business owner who attempted to move an unhoused woman with a garden hose as he was cleaning outside his storefront.

Gwin, an art gallery owner and 42-year resident of San Francisco, was charged with misdemeanor battery after a video of the incident went viral. 

In the deal reached with the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, Mr. Gwin will volunteer 35 hours at Third Baptist Church with civil rights champion Rev. Amos C. Brown. Upon completion, the charge against Mr. Gwin will be diverted out of the criminal justice system, dismissed and he will have no criminal record.

"It was an act of frustration that came after weeks of attempts to get police and social services agencies to help the mentally ill woman," said Douglas L Rappaport, attorney for Mr. Gwin. "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."

Initial discovery of the case (SFPD Incident #230-021-985) showed:

• On multiple occasions, Gwin and other business owners requested city agencies assist the unhoused woman to address her quality-of-life and mental health issues. In the 25 days before the incident, the City's emergency management office received 50 calls from Gwin's neighborhood about issues related to unhoused people.
  
  
• According to the police report of the incident, local merchants described the unhoused woman as being severely mentally ill, behaving in ways that frightened and offended customers and employees.
  
  
• Mr. Gwin and three other citizens/business owners told the officer on the scene that they all have had a history of problems concerning the unhoused woman.
  
  
• Mr. Gwin tried to help her in the past by encouraging her to stay in the doorway of his business on rainy nights.
  
  
• Mr. Gwin called the police to his business that same morning to assist in moving the woman out of his doorway so he could clean the sidewalk and open his business.
  
  
• The woman was not injured by the garden hose and declined to press charges. She refused city services at the time. One day after the incident went viral, she was placed on a psychiatric 5150 hold.

"I 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,'' Gwin said. "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,'' Gwin added, "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."

SOURCE Collier Gwin