The car parked on Albright Street, which has housed a person for nearly two years, was pushed closer to Charm Acres to allow for tree trimming. The car could not be started, even after it was “jumped.” The woman inside refuses all offered help.
Many homeowners are upset when dog walkers don’t pick up their pet’s excrement left on the resident’s front lawn. A homeowner who lives on Albright Street has a worse problem: human feces.
In a December 15 Nextdoor post, the neighbor wrote: “Our front lawn is NOT A TOILET! The woman [Daniella] living in her car here for the past year and a half is using our lawns as a toilet. She exposes herself daily to our children when she relieves herself.”
The car is located on Albright Street, less than a block from Caruso’s Palisades Village.
The woman continued, “When I called 911 to report indecent exposure, the police came quickly and found her about to pee on our lawn again. But they won’t remove her as she’s ‘exposing herself to urinate.’ I mean, who do we call now? The HazMat crew to clean up the human waste issue? Seriously GROSS that city officials expect us to live amongst human waste with our dogs and children walking through past it daily….”
Another neighbor confirmed, “My teens and I have all seen her going to the bathroom on the lawn across the street.”
Another resident wrote, “We live right above her car [in the condos]. We have lost hours of sleep and made many calls and sent emails to LAPD.”
By noon today there were about 50 comments and suggestions from Nextdoor neighbors. One asked if the woman pooping on people’s lawns knew where the public bathrooms were located. [There are bathrooms at Gelson’s, about a block away, and bathrooms at Caruso’s mall, also a block away.]
Another person suggested spraying her with a hose when she starts to squat. Others suggested a fence, private security or lawn sprinklers with motion detectors.
CTN contacted the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, which said they reach out to this individual almost daily, offering help and possible housing – and have for the last 18 months. But the woman is resistant and does not feel she needs help.
The PPTFH cannot detain or move anyone against their will. A further hindrance is that anybody living in a car cannot be moved during the Covid “emergency,” according to City regulations.
A person wrote on Nextdoor, “It’s a shame she won’t cooperate with the help offered. A 5150 might help her.”
A 5150 is an involuntary psychiatric hold. According to a speaker at a recent Task Force meeting, Dr. Roderick Shaner, there is a disagreement about whether a person fits into a 5150. “If a person is dangerous to self, to others or is gravely disabled, he/she can be detained for 72 hours,” he noted.
Then, Shaner continued, “If you take someone who is gravely disabled and take them to units, in a few days the voices stop, they get meals, sleep and medicine, and they say, ‘I don’t want to be in a hospital,’ and by the way, ‘I promise to take my meds.’ We can’t hold beyond 47 days, but antidotally if we give people proper treatment, they do well.”
The woman’s car was pushed forward on the street today to make room for tree trimming, but the car will not start and according to residents, “She’s not going anywhere.”
If the woman trespasses onto a lawn or screams at night, these laws can be enforced. The most realistic solution is for residents to schedule a neighborhood meeting with Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin, invite Captain Jonathon Tom and Pacific Palisades Community Council representative. Neighbors can request enforcement of any laws that she breaks, so that may be a way she can receive some help.
Is there an update on this story? Asking because last I read, neighbors were coordinating with SLO and other resources. Is the car still parked on Albright? Thanks!
Alison,
The car is still parked on Albright. People were told to call the police for trespassing and other issues, and if enough public outcry was generated and recorded, perhaps the family could go to court and get conservatorship.
Sue