A man was arrested Thursday near Portland’s largest homeless encampment at the Marginal Way Park and Ride after reportedly entering a local business and threatening employees and customers with a knife.
In an email to city and state officials, local business owner Sanford Fogg described the incident, and demanded that city officials do more to protect businesses and innocent bystanders near the encampment.
“It is only a matter of time, and it almost happened a half hour ago, when one of these pitiful yet extremely dangerous addicts kill an innocent bystander,” Fogg wrote in his Thursday email. “And all of you who condone the illegal drug trafficking that has been going on for months, unchecked and un-prosecuted are going to be responsible.”
Fogg requested that the city provide full time armed police protection for the businesses on Marginal Way.
“We did not create this situation, but now we are asked to endure it. That time is over,” he wrote. “We are completely fed up and scared for our lives.”
Brad Nadeau, Media and Community Relations Liaison for the Portland Police, told the Maine Wire Thursday that the suspect “came into a business while under the influence and was waving a knife around.”
“He was taken into custody by police, before being treated by MEDCU [Portland’s ambulance service] and taken to the hospital,” Nadeau said.
“In the end, unfortunately, this is a mental health issue,” he added — not mentioning any charges that will be brought against the suspect.
Marginal Way business owners have been pleading with the city for months to do more to combat the danger the encampment poses to their — and their customer’s — safety.
In recent months business owners have reported finding weapons, including a “zombie slasher” machete and a loaded shotgun, on their property near the encampment.
Retail workers at local businesses recently described in a video put out by the organization “Enough is Enough” scenes of homeless individuals waving needles around wildly in their stores and parking lots.
Portland’s Encampment Crisis Response Team (ECRT) is set to sweep the encampment on Nov. 1.
Previous encampment sweeps at the Fore River Parkway encampment in September and at the Bayside trail in the spring has drawn ire from local socialist organizations and the Maine ACLU, which have been urging the ECRT to stop clearing out encampments until more permanent housing solutions are in place.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="22676 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=22676">8 Comments
“….has drawn ire from local socialist organizations and the ACLU.”
That should read, …socialist organizations SUCH AS the ACLU. Roger Nash Baldwin, who was one of the founders and served as the executive director of the ACLU, was an avowed communist.
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LOOK AT WHOS RUNNING THE CITY ??!! REPLACE YOUR ELECTED SCUM RUNNING YOUR CITY .
Another one? Man, I hit peak negro fatigue years ago…
Yesterday, I watched a young man, who was sitting on the wall in front of the Bangor Historical Society Building, roll up his sleeve, apply a tourniquet and shoot up. Half an hour later, he was still in the same place. Every morning, dozens of sketchy looking folks line up to enter the Bangor Library (which is now a defacto day time homeless shelter). A contractor is working next to the library. They have to lock up their porta potties to keep them from being used for shooting up. The problems are not restricted to Portland.
I will no longer drive into Portland because of the troublesome elements that are roaming its streets. A very sad situation.
It is NOT a mental health issue it is a Drug addiction issue! Please stop conflating Drug Addled mental defects with legitimate Mental Health issues! Someone who has habitually used Meth for years is not going to be mentally stable because of the drugs and rehabilitation with incarceration is the ONLY way he’ll become more mentally stable! Drugs = Crazy!! Got it?!
I would suggest to the businesses along marginal way that they refuse to pay their city taxes for lack of services. This is a pure breach of contract in that the city is refusing to provide the services that they are taxing for. This will get someone’s attention as socialists only feed off other peoples money.
Mr Fogg is entirely correct that the time has come for common sense to prevail. We have purposely avoided downtown Portland for the better part of six months due to these concerns.