A businessman who turned a hose onto a homeless woman in a viral Monday video has been identified as Collier Gwin, owner of a posh art gallery in San Francisco’s Financial District.
Michael Imperiale, the co-owner of nearby business Tricolore, confirmed to The Standard that Gwin is the person seen in the viral video using a hose to spray a homeless woman sitting on the ground.
The victim, who appears to be sitting on the sidewalk with her belongings, screams and attempts to deflect the hose’s stream. Neighbors confirmed that the woman had been living on the block for at least two weeks and has been seen around the area for years.
“I would never do what he did,” Imperiale said. “But I personally have called social services so many times, and they say we can’t do anything.”
Gwin did not respond to phone calls, emails or a visit to their business by The Standard.
Gwin is reportedly the owner of Foster-Gwin Art & Antiques on Montgomery St., according to a 2018 Nob Hill Gazette article and testimony from neighbors.
I just went down and confronted him during an interview with the chronicle pic.twitter.com/BMuQMJaoHl
— Darren Mckeeman 🟥⬛️🟦⬜️🟦⬛️ (@tjcrowley) January 10, 2023
Darren Mckeeman, a 30-year resident of the area, filmed a video of Gwin after the incident where the antiques dealer appears to defend himself.
Mckeeman said he was angry about the incident and has known the female victim for a few years in the neighborhood.
Mckeeman said: “I care that the media will turn this into the fault of the unhoused and not the fault of the person who is supposedly in control of themselves.”
The San Francisco Police Department told The Standard that the victim “declined further police action.”