Man arrested for attacking homeless woman in her tent with metal cane
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
Altonio Lee Richardson, 39, was arrested yesterday morning after allegedly attacking the tent of a homeless woman with a metal cane while she was inside, hitting her on the head and damaging the tent.
The victim lives in a tent outside GRACE Marketplace, and Richardson reportedly became upset when she would not let him into her tent. He then allegedly picked up a metal cane and started hitting the outside of the tent with the cane, damaging three of the tent poles beyond repair.
While Richardson was allegedly striking the tent, the victim was hit on the head, and the tent fell down on her. The tent belonged to a second victim, who lives in the tent next to the damaged tent, and the damage was estimated at $50.
The first victim said that although she was hit on the head, she was not injured because she was wearing a knit cap and a hoodie. Multiple witnesses said they saw Richardson hitting the tent and heard the victim yell that she was hit. However, one witness said Richardson was using a hammer.
Post Miranda, Richardson reportedly said he had not hit or damaged the tent and that “they were all lying.” Richardson has been charged with criminal mischief and simple battery with other weapon and is being held on $15,000 bail. He has 16 felony convictions and 34 misdemeanor convictions and was most recently released from prison in June 2021 after serving a five-year sentence on a charge of resisting arrest with violence out of Columbia County. He will be prohibited from returning to GRACE Marketplace upon release.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
I thought they were supposed to close down ‘Dignity Village’ (the tent city hellhole in the back of Grace Marketplace) almost two years ago? Why is it still going?
“the tent belonged to a second victim who resided
next to the damaged tent”…I see…the neighbor guy had a tent duplex. Where’s code enforcement with their “landlord/tenant ordinance? And now that the equity challenged Mr. Richardson has been kicked out of
Grace, where’s he gonna move to? It better not be
On my front porch. So a better place is the sidewalk
Downtown or maybe he can just set up in the median
Of 13th street and panhandle 24/7. Poe & Co needs to
Do something besides inviting vagrants to our city to
Receive free housing so they can “sorta build back better”….The city needs to do “operation vagrant round-up” and bring all the vagrants to Grace Mkt, process them again, and tell them the new rules. No panhandling
In street medians. Offer them employment as canhandlers cleaning up the streets instead of being
Panhandlers. The county needs to prohibit vagrants
From other county jails being sent here to receive benefits at Grace. Grace needs to be offering only
Temporary help for 2 weeks and then send the person
Back to where they came. If your friends give up on you,
If your family gives up on you, if the church gives up on you, then you’re probably a real piece of shiz. Where
Does Mr. Richardson go now after he gets ROR’d from
Jail? Is it time to close the Taj Mahal Grace Mkt boondoggle down and make the 501C3 tax exempt churches house the homeless in their expensive buildings like the “we say gay” universal universalist
Church on NW 5th Ave & NW 17th in GNV? How
About letting the vagrants camp at that city park
With the social justice mural across from A Quinn
Jones school? How about let the bums sleep in
Front of city hall? How about a 24/7 bumfest downtown
At Bo Diddley Plaza. I think they should let the bums
Stay at Depor Park by the Csde Museum. They need
To have their tents and be moved out daily by sunrise
And can’t set up until sunset sounds like a good idea…
We need to expand the services of Grace Marketplace to help the homeless…All city parks should allow the homeless to set up in
Their tents. They should be able to set up shop on
The sidewalks outside the businesses in downtown, Bo Diddley Plaza, at the Cade museum in depot park too…Tents need to go up at sunset
And must be down by sunrise. Mr. Richardson needs
Alternative accommodations and this is a simple solution
If you get kicked off the main Grace Mkt Campus.
All churches must allow the homeless to set up
On their properties so they can have sanctuary too
And must provide bathroom access.
If they don’t, then they should lose their tax exempt 501c3 tax exempt status…these churches are supposed to help their fellow man, right?
He will be at midtown soon, menacing the college kids and causing disturbances along the avenue with the other homeless. Who knows, we may read about him bashing someone’s skull in soon.
oh yeah, midtown….There was that other Grace Market place
Neighbor that was charged with exposing his genitalia,
Dines & dashes, breaks, enters, & trespasses
And slapped that girl victim in the head recently in midtown after
He touched her and said something about “he rapes,
Etc.?”…and he has mental issues too!…he was just
Featured in a story in the chronicle a few days ago…
These people are are a menace. Is this the vision
Our elected officials have for GNV? They need to be shutting down the bars at 10pm to stop climate change.
Keeping bars open past 10pm gives them a bad environmental justice score.
Yeah, nothing good is happening late night recently at these bars…example the recent gun shootings.
The city’s environmental justice score carbon footprint would be better if everyone was a superhero
And stayed home and quarantines after 10pm. All liquor sales should end at 10pm to save the planet
And reduce carbon emissions as per the green new deal and great reset. All homeless should be off the streets and in Grace mkt after 10pm or be arrested.
A blue homeless tent turned up in the woods about 200 feet west of 1915 NW 16th Avenue (about 300 feet south of the Ring Park southern entrance) on Tuesday, and it was there again Wednesday. I told a GPD officer about it on Wednesday afternoon and he said he would check on it. If it is still there on Friday after today’s rain, then I will call GPD’s administrative line to make a 2nd report.