San Antonio police are called almost daily to scatter dozens of homeless people who loiter near the corner of San Pedro Avenue and West Euclid Avenue where the Annex Bar and the Child Advocates of San Antonio are located.
According to a May 4 report on News4SanAntonio, in the last year police have been called 122 times to the two locations. SAPD records show homeless people are blamed for 43 disturbances at the Annex and 16 disturbances and two robberies at CASA.
David Hall, manager of the Annex Bar (Video capture via WOAI-TV)
“They just started hanging out there,” David Hall, manager of the Annex, told News4. “[They threaten to] be back every 30 minutes. Sometimes multiple times a day we’re calling police because they won’t vacate the premise.”
Reporter Jocelyn Tovar goes on to say, “Recent violence including a stabbing on San Pedro, a man running naked down the road, it’s clear to everyone there’s more than just homelessness at the root of the problem here.”
Police chase a naked man running along San Pedro Avenue in front of the Annex Bar on April 27. (Video capture via Reddit User Mirai182)
“Some of them don’t want help and we can’t force them to leave,” SAPD Chief William McManus told News4. “We don’t force them to do anything if they’re not breaking the law.”
Stella Hernandez, a homeless woman interviewed by News4 said, “You get treated like a criminal and not a homeless person. You get treated like you committed murder, a crime instead of you’re homeless you’re helpless. A lot of us have a lot of mental issues. Some of us just need someone to literally lead us by the hand.”
