Business owner says cop bought homeless criminal cheeseburgers

A police officer gave a homeless man McDonald’s cheeseburgers after the man had allegedly threatened a business owner with pepper-spray.

The individual is reportedly a regular resident at the tent encampment located off of I-5 at the corner of Northgate and Corliss, and has been a nuisance to surrounding shops. According to the business owner, who preferred to remain anonymous, the man had been blocking the doors to his business. When he told him to move, the street camper pulled out a can of the spray, and directed it at the owner’s face.

Unharmed, the business owner called police and trailed the homeless man as he ran away. Roughly 45 minutes later, a police officer arrived and located the man in a McDonald’s parking lot. Expecting an arrest, the business owner said he was shocked when the officer went inside the McDonald’s and bought the culprit two cheeseburgers.

According to the business owner, this isn’t the first crime related to the encampment going unpunished. One of his employees was given a black eye after confronting a man trying to break into cars in the parking lot. There is also regular panhandling, defecating, and drug-use happening on the property.

The business owner says all of the surrounding businesses feel some level of threat from the encampment. He says the encampment popped up in the last three months and the city’s navigation team has shown an unwillingness to sweep it.