An Unsettling Observation

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Editor,

On the morning of Friday, Sept. 4, I was driving south on Coast Highway at Broadway when I saw a homeless man beating up a disabled homeless man. I started screaming at him to stop but he just ignored me. I left my car in traffic and ran over to stop him while calling 911. He was striking the man’s head with his fists and screaming he was going to kill him for giving his friend four pills the night before that made him to overdose and die. I separated the two and kept him away from the victim until the police arrived. Four police cars showed up and even with a police presence he kept shouting that he was going to kill him. I gave my statement and info and went home.

Two days later I was walking my dog at Main Beach and there was the same man that was attempting to kill another man, sitting under an umbrella with some other homeless men laughing and enjoying the day!

What are we supposed to do about this problem? This was attempted murder and in the meantime our city is being sued because we haven’t handled the homeless problem to the American Civil Liberties Union’s satisfaction.

This is not a problem the City of Laguna Beach has caused; these issues are beyond the city’s control. I’m sure our police are as baffled as the rest of us; why wasn’t this man kept in jail? Is he staying in our shelters?

I don’t have the solutions to these problems but I am absolutely certain they’re not going to be solved by the impending lawsuit. We need help beyond our city’s borders to solve these issues. I understand that a lot of the homeless are stranded and I appreciate their plight but we also have to consider the mortal peril our community is being subjected to and that heightened scrutiny is needed to remove the violent criminals and drug dealers / abusers that are occupying our town.

 

Mark Evans, Laguna Beach

 

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