By Khalida Sarwari
In cities like San Francisco and San Jose, people hardly give them a thought. But in smaller cities, one could say the homeless stick out like a sore thumb. There is concern among some that the Saratoga Argonaut Shopping Center is turning into a homeless hangout, and that one individual in particular is not receiving the help they believe he needs.
Both the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and Colliers International, the company that handles leasing for the industrial complex, are aware of the individual, and both have noted that they are “monitoring the situation,” but despite the wishes of some, say they can’t do much more than that.
John Machado, executive vice president in charge of retail properties at Colliers, put it matter-of factly: “It’s not a crime to be homeless.”
Since at least the beginning of August, the company has been approached several times by an individual who lives in the area and shops at the center, Machado said. She’s notified them about frequent sightings of the homeless individual. Machado said the company responded by boosting security in the area and alerting the store managers as well as the sheriff’s office, and keeping an eye on video monitors. But the man hasn’t broken any laws by hanging out in the shopping center.
“The bottom line is there’s not much we really can do as property owners,” Machado said. “We’re just trying to keep on top of it and provide a safe environment, and we’ve notified Safeway and CVS and Starbucks, where he kind of seems to frequent, but I don’t know what to do about it, quite honestly.”
Representatives from the Safeway at 12876 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road did not return a call seeking comment.
The only time they’d step in, said Machado, is if they receive reports that the man is harassing or threatening shoppers, a point that was corroborated by Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. Provided that they can gather “direct evidence from himself or witnesses” that the man is a danger to either himself or to the public, deputies can legally remove the man from the area, Stenderup said. So far, that does not seem to be the case.
“We have to have that threat to hurt himself or others,” Stenderup said. “We can’t just take him because he’s suffering from a mental illness.”
A concerned resident who asked to remain anonymous described the man as a large-built African American male standing at least 6 feet tall.
“I’ve been afraid of him since the first day he arrived at Saratoga Argonaut,” said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous. “I have a healthy respect for the homeless, but if they need mental health services and do not receive those services after time, there will be some sort of acting out.”
The resident claims the man has been living at the shopping center, hanging out mainly outside of Starbucks and CVS, asking “innocent victims” for money, and wandering through the parking lot, though she doesn’t believe he owns a car.
Deputies are “very much” aware of him and have responded numerous times to reports of a “suspicious person” or requests for a welfare check in the area, according to Stenderup. But each time they’ve found that the man is not breaking the law in terms of posing a threat or trespassing. He has not had any warrants or committed any crimes, nor is he a candidate for mental health treatment based on assessments they’ve done on him, according to Stenderup.
“We don’t have have any evidence that he’s a threat to himself or the public,” Stenderup reiterated. “If people have information, we ask them to contact us. If there are people out there that have different information, obviously we’d love to hear from them. But until that point we can’t just tell somebody, ‘Hey you can’t be here, you need to leave’ if it’s in a public place or public area.”
Anyone with questions or concerns is asked to call 911 or the sheriff’s office at 408.808.4900.
Concern over homeless man hanging out in the Argonaut Center
