'She does that every morning': Brentwood residents say woman defecating on sidewalk is threatening them
Brentwood residents fed up after woman repeatedly defecates on sidewalks
Residents in Brentwood say a woman has been defecating on neighborhood sidewalks for years and the problem continues to escalate.
LOS ANGELES - Neighbors in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles say a woman has been defecating on their sidewalks for years, and her behavior is escalating.
One mother says the woman threatened to kill her on Tuesday while she was out walking with her young daughter and dogs. Residents say they have contacted police and their elected representatives, and they want mental health professionals to step in and get the woman help.
What we know:
Video, which FOX 11 has blurred, shows the woman with her pants down, defecating and wiping herself at the corner of Goshen and Barrington avenues.
Neighbors say she has been using the sidewalks of Brentwood as her bathroom for years.
On Tuesday, Brentwood resident Wendy Kush said she was walking with her young daughter and dogs when she saw the woman come around the corner.
"She started yelling she was gonna kill me, lunging at me, and I couldn't get the lab to move because she was moving really slow. Luckily, I finally just started running and the dogs followed me, but it was really scary," Kush said.
Kush posted about her experience on the Nextdoor app. Others chimed in saying the same woman had chased and threatened them on different occasions. Some have contacted police and their representatives.
What they're saying:
For Kush, the sight is an all too familiar one.
"I remember saying something to my neighbor who said, oh yeah, she does that every morning, which I thought was kind of insane," Kush said.
Kush felt sorry for her, so she started making calls. She tried 3-1-1 and homeless coalitions. One group took six months to even find the woman.
"They finally found her, and I thought something great would happen. She'd get some help. And they said she refused services, and they couldn't do anything more about it," Kush said.
"I mean, that's pretty crazy," said Brentwood resident Ella Lopez.
"I'm sad for her," said Sydney Schroeder.
"It's disgusting, but it's more of the same," said a resident who did not want to give his name.
Neighbors say they have run into the same answer from the agencies they have called.
"They're all very compassionate. They wanna help, but their hands are tied is what we're constantly told. We're also told that they really can't do anything unless there's an actual violent act," said Brentwood resident Laurie Sideman.
"So basically, if someone poops right here, it's fine. But if I throw something out of my car, I get a ticket," said Brentwood resident Shawn Shayan.
Besides dealing with this quality of life issue, neighbors fear that if this woman doesn't get help it may end in tragedy.
"We have a lot of mentally ill homeless people here that we have compassion for, but they need treatment," Kush said.
What's next:
FOX 11 received a statement late Wednesday afternoon from Councilmember Traci Park's office, which wrote: "This is a prime example of the ongoing mental health crisis on our streets. We desperately need the County Mental Health Department's assistance in getting this patient off the streets and into the supervised care they need."
The mayor's office has alerted the LAPD to this issue and requested the County Emergency Centralized Response Center (ECRC) to deploy their mental health outreach team.
The city does not have a mental health department. It relies on the county, which allocates more than $4 billion each year for those services.
Neighbors say they hope this story gets the county's attention so the woman can get help before she hurts herself or others.
The Source: Information for this story came from an interview with Brentwood neighbors. A statement was provided by Councilmember Traci Park.