Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Community not happy with North Park park

"I’m not taking my kids back to that playground.”

“I was beaten up here," said a woman who wished to remain anonymous.
“I was beaten up here," said a woman who wished to remain anonymous.

“A really aggressive homeless dude” was witnessed yelling and disrespecting a female city employee with “f-bombs” as she was working in the baseball field on September 12, according to Jeff Ray, a 50-year-old North Park resident.

An NBC San Diego news crew was in the same park “[but] was too far away for them to hear [him yell], 'Bitch, go back to Mexico!' He was relentlessly...screaming at her,” Ray said, “and she wasn’t even responding.”

Thirty minutes prior to the witnessed “verbal assault,” at about 10:00 a.m., Ray did an interview with the news crew about the North Park Community Park (by Howard Avenue and Idaho Street) — and its problems.

Sponsored
Sponsored

He said that last month homeless people in the playground told him (and his two toddlers) to leave.

“Last Friday [September 8] I brought my kids [to the park and] witnessed yet another incident,” Ray said, “this time involving domestic abuse…. That was the last straw [and I’m] not taking my kids back to that playground.”

Ray is a former professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. He recently relocated here from the Bay Area. He said that he’s taking a year off to watch his twin 19-month-olds and that in the past ten times they’ve come by the park, on six of those occasions he noticed suspicious activity by people who appeared to be homeless.

“I’ve advocated for a homeless veteran [and other homeless individuals] before,” he said, “and I understand their plight.” After having kids though, he said his point of advocacy has changed. “You have less patience and you are protective of your kids,” he said. My love and my passion are for my kids [now].”

A syringe was found in the park last month.

Later on September 12, this reporter asked a park staff member who was picking up trash about the screaming incident. He said he'd heard about it and that his colleague’s “feelings got hurt.” He said that the homeless situation in the park is getting worse and “and it’s hard for us to do our job.” He added that in the past year he’s found beer bottles, cigarette butts, and drug paraphernalia.

Ray said he found a syringe in the park on August 7.

“That comes with the demographic of type of people that hang out here,” Kerry said. She lives across the street from the playground.

Another lady who did not want to be identified has been coming to the park for about 15 years. “I was beaten up by another woman here,” she said. “The problems here are growing.”

“We are trying to keep this [park] a family place,” said the park staff member, “[and] parents complain…and they get cops coming by.”

During the interview sessions, cops in patrol vehicles were witnessed driving and parking on the grass of the park grounds. “But what are they going to do?” asked the lady who said she was beaten up. There were also between 20 and 30 adults sitting in the grass and park benches — with no kids in the vicinity.

“We have signed a petition [and] delivered [it] to [councilmember] Chris Ward’s office,” Ray posted on his social media. “Some of us have talked directly to Mr. Ward, including myself, all advocating for the North Park [Community Park] playground and the area around it to be a safe space for children. To no avail, nothing has changed.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
“I was beaten up here," said a woman who wished to remain anonymous.
“I was beaten up here," said a woman who wished to remain anonymous.

“A really aggressive homeless dude” was witnessed yelling and disrespecting a female city employee with “f-bombs” as she was working in the baseball field on September 12, according to Jeff Ray, a 50-year-old North Park resident.

An NBC San Diego news crew was in the same park “[but] was too far away for them to hear [him yell], 'Bitch, go back to Mexico!' He was relentlessly...screaming at her,” Ray said, “and she wasn’t even responding.”

Thirty minutes prior to the witnessed “verbal assault,” at about 10:00 a.m., Ray did an interview with the news crew about the North Park Community Park (by Howard Avenue and Idaho Street) — and its problems.

Sponsored
Sponsored

He said that last month homeless people in the playground told him (and his two toddlers) to leave.

“Last Friday [September 8] I brought my kids [to the park and] witnessed yet another incident,” Ray said, “this time involving domestic abuse…. That was the last straw [and I’m] not taking my kids back to that playground.”

Ray is a former professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. He recently relocated here from the Bay Area. He said that he’s taking a year off to watch his twin 19-month-olds and that in the past ten times they’ve come by the park, on six of those occasions he noticed suspicious activity by people who appeared to be homeless.

“I’ve advocated for a homeless veteran [and other homeless individuals] before,” he said, “and I understand their plight.” After having kids though, he said his point of advocacy has changed. “You have less patience and you are protective of your kids,” he said. My love and my passion are for my kids [now].”

A syringe was found in the park last month.

Later on September 12, this reporter asked a park staff member who was picking up trash about the screaming incident. He said he'd heard about it and that his colleague’s “feelings got hurt.” He said that the homeless situation in the park is getting worse and “and it’s hard for us to do our job.” He added that in the past year he’s found beer bottles, cigarette butts, and drug paraphernalia.

Ray said he found a syringe in the park on August 7.

“That comes with the demographic of type of people that hang out here,” Kerry said. She lives across the street from the playground.

Another lady who did not want to be identified has been coming to the park for about 15 years. “I was beaten up by another woman here,” she said. “The problems here are growing.”

“We are trying to keep this [park] a family place,” said the park staff member, “[and] parents complain…and they get cops coming by.”

During the interview sessions, cops in patrol vehicles were witnessed driving and parking on the grass of the park grounds. “But what are they going to do?” asked the lady who said she was beaten up. There were also between 20 and 30 adults sitting in the grass and park benches — with no kids in the vicinity.

“We have signed a petition [and] delivered [it] to [councilmember] Chris Ward’s office,” Ray posted on his social media. “Some of us have talked directly to Mr. Ward, including myself, all advocating for the North Park [Community Park] playground and the area around it to be a safe space for children. To no avail, nothing has changed.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Next Article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.