Wine Containing Pieces of Glass Being Left in Places Where Homeless Gather

During the past month, 32 bottles of wine containing pieces of glass have been left in various spots where the homeless gather.

No one has been injured, but the homeless in Santa Barbara are so concerned that they have formed their own “neighborhood watch” group, said John Hatfield, who camps out near downtown.

“People in suburban neighborhoods have these neighborhood watches because they’re worried about crime. . . . Well, homeless people are victims of crimes too,” Hatfield said. “Somebody may take a belt of this wine and get hurt real bad. So some of us are walking the streets every night and keeping our eyes open.”

It is not just the homeless, Hatfield said, who are in danger. A group of children recently found six of the bottles in a park.

Some advocates for the homeless contend that the police did not respond quickly enough.

“If this had been a case of adulterated food in grocery stores, you would have had a serious response immediately,” said Jane Haggstrom, coordinator for the Santa Barbara Homeless Coalition. “Look how people reacted when they heard a few Chilean grapes were tainted. But people think the homeless are a bunch of drunks and don’t matter.”

Santa Barbara police say they are aggressively investigating and have assigned a detective to the case full time. Although police did not begin posting flyers warning the homeless until July 20, the department issued a press release July 1, after the first wine bottle with glass was found.

Police said they are pursuing several leads, but withheld details for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.

“We’re finding these bottles in a relatively large geographical area, so it’s not an easy case,” Sgt. Richard Glaus said. “And it’s not like food tampering inside a store where you can track down manufacturing and distribution methods. With the wine bottles, it appears as if the glass has been put inside the bottles after they were purchased.”

During the mid-1980s, Santa Barbara developed a reputation as a community hostile to the homeless. In 1984, a proposal was brought before the City Council to outlaw the removal of food from garbage cans. After some controversy, the measure was rejected.

Later that year, a transient was found shot to death near railroad tracks. The slaying remains unsolved. Another transient was brutally murdered in 1985 by a cadet from an area military school.

During that period, homeless people complained before the City Council about alleged police brutality and marched in protest on President Ronald Reagan’s Santa Barbara-area ranch.

The comic strip “Doonesbury” has lampooned the city for its treatment of the homeless. In addition, homeless activist Mitch Snyder threatened to lead a massive demonstration in Santa Barbara in 1986 to protest a city ordinance banning overnight sleeping in public.

But the City Council modified the sleeping ordinance and the demonstration was called off. During the next few years, there were few publicized incidents involving the homeless.

But on July 1, a homeless person walking beside railroad tracks found three wine bottles with shards of glass inside. During the next 3 1/2 half weeks, 29 more wine bottles, most of them cheap port, were found similarly tampered with, Glaus said. Some were found in a park. Others were found near the Moreton Bay fig tree, a spot where the homeless gather, and on sidewalks.

Most of the wine bottles were full, with the seals broken and the caps screwed back on.

A full wine bottle with a broken seal was found Monday, and six others were found Sunday near where the homeless gather. There was no glass in the bottles, but police are holding the contents for testing. The latest discovery of a wine bottle with glass in it was Thursday, authorities said.

“This situation does not reflect Santa Barbara’s attitude toward the homeless,” said Sid Smith, a city councilman and chairman of the local Homeless Advisory Committee. “It’s just the work of some nut.”

They city has a progressive low-income housing program and donates more money to social service groups that help the homeless and poor than many cities its size, many advocates for the homeless acknowledge.

“As homelessness increases, we’re seeing more hostility and hatred by some citizens,” not just locally, but throughout the country, Haggstrom said. “Instead of recognizing homelessness as a problem in the system, people are blaming the homeless and lashing out at them. They look at them as a bunch of bums who are no good and deserve mistreatment.”