UPDATE: Capt. Ed Ramirez of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station told WEHOville today that deputies were quickly sent to the scene of an alleged attack on a homeless woman Monday on Santa Monica Boulevard near Kings Road. Ramirez said that when the resident who witnessed the incident called the Sheriff’s station, the dispatcher took important information such as the man’s height and weight and what he was wearing. While the man who called to report the incident did offer to send a photo of the alleged attacker, the dispatcher is not allowed to share his or her telephone number to receive such a text.
Ramirez’s statement is likely to defuse the anger expressed by some West Hollywood residents, who viewed the Sheriff’s Station as having not acted in response to a call about the incident. Ramirez said deputies eventually found the witness (who supplied a photo to WEHOville of the alleged assailant) and the victim. The victim said the photo was not of her attacker and she didn’t want to press charges. Deputies nonetheless took a report of the incident. WEHOville erred in not waiting for a response from the Sheriff’s Station before publishing the story.
A West Hollywood resident driving on Santa Monica Boulevard near Kings Road this afternoon witnessed a man brutally kicking a homeless woman in the back.
He said the woman, who is often seen sitting on the sidewalk on Santa Monica Boulevard outside of Gelson’s grocery store, was knocked over, leaving her belongings scattered.
The man, who asked not to be identified, said he reached out to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station and was told they were not interested in his photo of the man alleged to have attacked the woman. WEHOville has published the photo with this story.
The witness said he also saw what appeared to a scattering of the belongings of other homeless people near the bus stop on the southeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and La Cienega, several hundred feet away.
Anyone who can identify the man is urged to call the Sheriff’s Station at (310) 855-8850 and to call WEHOville at (323) 454-7707 or email [email protected] to share that information. WEHOville will not reveal the source of the information.
We all have to understand that the most important issue is Poverty. We live in a country were Poverty continues to erode our Society, all these issues are symptoms of putrefying decay
In hindsight, it would have been better to hold off on this article until after WHJV had a chance to get a statement of the facts, before publishing. Would have avoided a lot of confusion and misplaced anger.
I’m just a say’n…..
Sad that this mentally ill women who has been haunting Kings Road for over a year was hurt.
She is a tragic example of a schizophrenic or bipolar woman who refuses to take the medication that would enable her to have a proper home and stop being a public nuisance.
I’ve seen her screaming racial slurs into her cell phone on many occasions. She is continually blocking the sidewalk on Santa Monica Blvd. I think a man behaving this way would have been removed a long time ago.
i’ve seen her screaming many times as well as pulling a wad of cash out. everyone needs to always keep in mind: the people on the streets of weho have been offered every kind of assistance to get them off the streets and have REFUSED it. instead, they block our sidewalks and terrorize innocent people with their rantings. this nonsense of “take your kindly homeless neighbor to lunch and get close to them” really needs to stop. knock yourself out if you want to do that, but stop looking down on people who are sick and tired of being forced… Read more »
If only the world functioned with such simplicity. The single most significant reason why individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder fail to take their medication is because of their lack of awareness of their illness (anosognosia). Other important reasons are concurrent alcohol or drug abuse; costs; and a poor relationship between psychiatrist and patient. (https://mentalillnesspolicy.org/medical/medication-noncompliance.html). Now, imagine having schizophrenia or bipolar disorder AND being unhoused where you have few trusted friends trying to make you aware of your symptoms, any appointments you may have had with your psychiatrist are becoming more and more difficult to keep, therefore deteriorating rather than… Read more »
Thank you so much for your empathetic post. Until you have dealt with a severe mental illness yourself or with someone close to you, it’s impossible to fully understand the complexities. If the cure for mental health was as simple as changing behavior or taking a pill – which is EXACTLY what insurance companies promote – then it wouldn’t be the epidemic it is.
Thank you Josh. The issues have many causes, many exacerbating conditions and circumstances, and many potential solutions and barriers to full implementation of those solutions. My hope is that more people can engage in an empathetic conversation that engages the many facets of the issue, as you have elegantly and eloquently done here. There are rarely simple answers in a complex world.
We need to time-travel back to the 1970s when the California Assembly, the ACLU, and Gov. Pat Brown decided that it was a violation of the civil rights of the mentally ill that they be forced to reside in homes where they would get the treatment they need. So they were let loose to the streets after they promised they would take their medications on their own. Yes, it was new incoming Gov. Reagan who actually signed the bill, but only because he had no choice as it had become law under the previous administration. Later, even former Gov. Brown… Read more »
Actually Josh, your dissertation above lacks empathy, offers no solutions and is defeatist.
The solutions are well known, it’s adopting the right policies, committing to long term investment, and not giving in to frustrations that tend to set us back rather than move us forward that are challenges to getting to the solutions. Significant investments in improving access and delivery of mental health services and following a “housing-first” model are known paths forward for getting people off the streets and improving their quality of lives. Investments in preventing homelessness is crucial – whether that be providing improved mental health and/or addiction/substance abuse early on or programs to help cover rents. (and everything in… Read more »
You’re assuming, Josh Kurpies, that the people we’re talking about would take the home and the treatment we would provide them. They won’t.
“The solutions are well known” ???…..Josh, that is the same gibberish we’ve been hearing from every county and state political hack that wants to say it. All that double talk for the last 14 years since the Jones Act was enacted has failed the most vulnerable individuals in our society and has contributed to making the unacceptable become tragically acceptable.
Well said, my thoughts exactly. One day on the street may be equal to a year off of their lives of these individuals with exponential respects. The time to nip things in the bud is “when they appear” as they don’t cure themselves on their own. Subsequently it has become an epidemic which the City of West Hollywood fuels given the lifestyle it promotes. If the will and money that produces and funds the Pride Festival were applied to curing our “home town homeless epidemic”, there would be results folks could feel good about. The revenues of the bar and… Read more »
And you don’t think there are mentally ill residents of West Hollywood that causes disturbances?
Frankly the only difference between Bridgette and some residents of Weho is most have a home and she doesn’t. Not everyone had the opportunity to buy a condo thirty years ago and heavily mortgage it.
It seems that the blue hairs of Kings rd were not taught compassion, and frankly, I’m not surprised.
No evidence this incident happened.
This didn’t age well….
Unfortunately the person who reported this to WEHOVILLE misinformed them. I have firsthand knowledge that he was asked to remain at the scene so deputies could obtain information and take a report, which he failed to do. There were no victim or any other witnesses at the scene when deputies arrived.
Without evidence, an unidentified passerby claims an unidentified man “brutally” kicked a homeless woman in the back. Unidentified passerby thinks he saw scattered belongings of other homeless people near a bus stop 1/3 mile away.
I have engaged with that woman for well over a year. That woman has a name. Her name is Bridgette. She is completely harmless, as are the vast majority of the unhoused in this town. Only a monster would attack a woman seated on the sidewalk enjoying what little she has. Next time you see her, she enjoys coffee and an occasional Dr. Pepper. Get to know your unhoused neighbors.
I’ve engaged with Bridgette as well. She is very nice and always so sweet when I give her money; it kills me to see her out on the streets. It infuriates me that this monster attacked her. I would have gone ballistic had I seen this happen. I hope this coward is found and he gets his.
I agree, giving money, you’re actually hurting her. Instead, set up auto payments to charity that assists the homeless.
About a a year ago I called 911 because a young homeless guy was at the bus stop at La Cienega and Santa Monica with his pants below his knees, stroking his penis, walking into the first lane of traffic and shuffling over to the stairs by CVS. He was mumbling incoherently. There were children present. I was told this was not an emergency and was offered the correct number to dial. I pointed out that I was not in a position to take the number, but this seemed like an emergency to me, so YOU call them! I went… Read more »
JFI – our streets have issues and we must do more, but we need to operate from facts. Your numbers are simply incorrect. Mental health issues and drug/alcohol addictions affect about 50% of those who are unhoused (this number varies by location etc.). The most visible people often are those with the more severe issues, so it can be easy to assume all of the homeless community is the same, but the data says otherwise. Further, your assertion that the homeless community is usually the violent ones is also false. All evidence says that people who are homeless are more… Read more »
Kyle, your figures just don’t ring true to everything I’ve read. You don’t cite sources, which is okay because I’m not willing to do the research either to support my position here. But even if your figures are correct let’s work on getting the 50% of the homeless that we see in WeHo off the streets because the other 50% is apparently somewhere else.
You forgot to add “So that they will continue to litter our streets and bring down the value of our homes.”
Why wasn’t the Sheriff interested in the photo of the perp? That’s ridiculous. Last I heard, it was their job to find and arrest violent criminals. Shame on them.
If the officer didn’t witness it, then the victim has to file a complaint.
It’s just how it works.