cops choose to NOT cite homeless, unemployed, cancer victim for living in her car
The incident began about 8:30 p.m. Monday when police were dispatched to the 300 block of Paloma Street west of Highway 101 to investigate reports that a woman was living in her car. The city’s municipal code makes it illegal to live in one’s vehicle.
Mathis and Graham contacted the woman and learned that “she had been struggling through some significant hardships,” Fink said. Besides her illness and homelessness, her son was also going through a hard time, yet “provided the car for his mother to sleep in because she had no other options for shelter,” Fink said.
The officers discussed ways to get her off the street and to someplace warm, but their options were limited because of the late hour. Apparently, though, someone who lives nearby heard the discussion, either directly or second-hand, and called San Rafael police dispatch, saying he wanted to help.
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“He offered to pay for the lady to stay in a local hotel for two nights,” Fink said. “The SRPD dispatcher attempted to get the caller’s name, but he declined and insisted on remaining anonymous.”
The officers took the woman to the hotel, which Fink declined to name because he didn’t want the woman to be subjected to any unwanted attention. She was given a room for two nights “with a complimentary breakfast,” Fink said.
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/San-Rafael-cops-and-good-Samaritan-help-woman-in-5945424.php
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