Residents complain of a rise of crime because of increase in homelessness

REDWOOD CITY >> A recent spate of thefts from the Marine Science Insitute has the organization’s head pleading with the city to do something about rising crime in connection with homeless encampments on Seaport Boulevard.

Institute Executive Director Marilou Seiff on Monday told Redwood City Council members that she has irrefutable evidence of homeless people living in the area stealing from the institute.

She said people tore through the doors of the facility on Thanksgiving and stole over $15,000 worth of tools and educational equipment. And just a couple of weeks later, Seiff said one of her employees saw two men hauling away one of the institute’s 12-foot canoes.

“We called the police, they came and we found our canoe in the slough inside one of the tents in the encampment and no one knew how it got there,” Seiff said, adding that after walking around the encampment she also found some of the equipment stolen on Thanksgiving.

“We are taking steps to beef up our security, and we ask the city to help,” Seiff added. “Homelessness is a sensitive subject and it’s not a crime, but stealing and possessing stolen property is.”

Without any consequences, Seiff said the thefts are likely to continue. She said she’s concerned about the “financial hurt” that these thefts will have on her organization. The institute already has put out a call for people to donate tools to replace stolen ones.

She said insurance will cover some of the bigger items — like a stolen welder and table saw — but her rates are likely to go up next year as a result.

Seiff was just one of several residents who spoke up about the effect that an increase in homelessness has had on the city, including one woman who said she was attacked by a man while waiting for the bus and also would like to see more security and faster response times from police.

Redwood City resident Cristina Lee said she was at a bus station Dec. 5 waiting to get back home when “out of the blue” she was approached by a man who grabbed her and hurled her against the glass wall of the bus stop.

“I was immobilized, it was so aggressive,” she said. “It took 10 to 15 minutes for any cop to even appear. Redwood City is growing fast and we need to match that growth with a rise in security. Business will not invest if there’s no security.”

Concerned about a lack of parking enforcement, Victor Valdes — who owns V&V Bros. RVs and Trailers on Hansen Way — said RVs parking near his business is driving people away.

“Sometimes cops will put tickets on the vehicles, but people are smart enough to pull them around and park somewhere else,” Valdes said. “This is causing a lot of strain on our business, our customers don’t have any parking and people are doing repairs across there street where we are. I pay half a million dollars in taxes and insurance and everything else that comes with it; this should at least be controlled so no one is staying on the streets.”

Valdes said he has seen RVs parked outside his business for weeks at a time, and although the problem has existed for a year now he said: “A few months ago, it wasn’t as serious as it is now.”

“We’ve had no parking for months,” Valdes said. “People have tried to break into our store, so we had to pay for a security guard. We need to get this under control and something about it together.”