Homeless Report Assaults at Sidewalk Near New Leaf Market on Pacific Ave.

Wednesday night (9-16), R (who does not want to be identified by name for fear of retaliation) was struck, by his account six or seven times in the eye and told to "get ouf of town" by youths he didn't know. This man has been a frequent commentator on my radio show in the past and active in food distribution programs to help the homeless. The assault took place, by his account, on Soquel St. along the side of the New Leaf Market.

J--another witness who fears retaliation, reports that Thursday 9-17 and Friday 9-18, the same group of thugs showed up at New Leaf telling people this was "our town" and demanding they leave. Two people were struck in the face. What particularly disturbed J was that though many folks called police on cell phones, from shops, etc. they did not appear for the next hour. J also noted they were absent an hour before the arrival of the 6 or 7 "Eastside thugs" as he described them.

Q--another witness acknowledged the violence but was unwilling to identify anyone as she "didn't want to get in the middle".

There were no reports of violence Sunday (9-20) and Monday (9-21) nights.

C.J. Stock, the sometime guitarist, reported to another witness he was assaulted and hospitalized Saturday--in an incident that happened downtown.

Please report any violence or intimidation you see to HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) at 423-4833, or call Free Radio to make a report at 427-3772. I'm also hoping to have a notebook available for written reports at the Sub Rosa Cafe at 703 Pacific Ave. Sub Rosa has free computers and will let you post accounts on this website.

There's a lot of hostility and homeless-baiting on the Sentinel Topix forums (http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_13364452?IADID=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com ). It's not clear where the violence is coming from, but folks need to watch out for each other and pass on whatever accurate information they can.