Shacola Thompson: LA woman says homeless man REFUSES to leave her porch but cops have done nothing
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A homeowner is concerned for her safety saying the police have "done nothing" to remove an uninvited homeless man who sleeps on her porch.
Shacola Thompson, who lives in Van Nuys, said the homeless man has made himself comfortable on her patio furniture about ten times this month. She first realized something was wrong after noticing graffiti on her porch near Hazeltine Avenue and Sherman Way. When she took a peek at her front door camera, she saw the trespasser lounging on her outdoor couch.
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"He came to my house yesterday morning and tried to break in. I'm concerned about my safety," Thompson told ABC 7. "He could come in. He could harm me. He could bogart his way into my house. It's not fair," she added. Surveillance footage on her front door captured all the times police arrived to confront the man. "He told police yesterday that he lives here, and he does not live here," Thompson explained. "I just feel like they're not taking this serious [sic]. They're not taking my safety seriously. I live here. I'm alone." The homeless man was questioned and released, the Los Angeles Police Department told the Daily Mail.
What would you do if a homeless man moved in to your porch for days and wouldn't leave? That's the dilemma for a frightened #VanNuys woman who's pleading for help. Why can't the #LAPD keep him from coming back? Tonight at 11 from ABC7. https://t.co/JxL9S0VRHh pic.twitter.com/gPTjEQ00At
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 24, 2022
Thompson said she first noticed the man standing on her porch when she was leaving for work one morning. She said she has pleaded with the authorities multiple times to apprehend him for showing up at her front door. "Do you know this individual," an officer previously asked Thompson through the camera. "I do not know him," she replied. "I do not know this individual. He's been poking around here. This is the second time I have had to call log him. He tagged my wall."
One of the videos shows the man being placed in handcuffs as an officer tells him, "Stand up, let's go." That said, it's unclear if the man has returned to the property since. Thompson said she is scared of what the this man is capable of doing to her.
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Los Angeles is facing a serious homeless encroachment problem. Earlier this year, a homeless man was seen in surveillance footage forcing a young woman into a residential garage where he "nearly raped her" before she was able to escape the ordeal. Shockingly, the suspect tried to force his way into another woman's apartment just 20 minutes later, but fled when she screamed, the LAPD said. Video footage, first obtained by ABC 7, showed the man grabbing the woman by her arm as they walked through the coveted West Hollywood neighborhood.
At one point, he is seen pulling the woman inside the garage of a stranger's home at the 800 block of North Vista Street near Melrose Avenue around 12.30 pm. The woman is seen moments later, bolting out of the garage to her freedom before she sought help. The unidentified perp is subsequently seen walking back out of the garage.