Fox 11 Los Angeles: Venice Beach Business Owner Says Business Down by 18-20% Due to Homeless Vagrants

EXCERPT:

EDWARDS (voice-over): "For the second time in four months Darrel Preston watched a homeless man break into one of his Venice restaurants through a security camera."
PRESTON: "He had some kind of a tool or a knife to try to pry open the doors. He couldn't get in and decided to just go through our -- our frigerator and coolers and take what he could, then climb back over the wall and disappear into the neighborhood."
EDWARDS: "The thief made off with an expensive bottle of mezcal, which he was seen casually swigging in the same neighborhood the next morning. Preston says he's fed up with what he calls a revolving door of unhoused criminals in Venice."
PRESTON: "When these things are happening we see children, we see surfers, we see locals, all walking amongst them and have no idea how dangerous it's it's been. And that's the frustrating part."
EDWARDS: "Earlier Tuesday, his cameras captured a violent attack on the Venice pier. Witnesses say a naked homeless man was violently beating a homeless woman, dragging her, pushing her to the ground, and hitting her. Officers say when they got there, the attacker was so agitated that he had to be tased. Preston says there have been countless horrifying encounters with Venice's transient population recently."
PRESTON: "Our staff has been assaulted. A lot of the locals are -- are definitely afraid to come down. Our business is down 18, 20 percent."