A few months ago I started commuting via train to Santa Clara, CA. My train stop is the Santa Clara Train Station off of Railroad Avenue. I take the Brokaw Road exit as I’m walking out of the Santa Clara Train Station. Where I exit the train station on north Brokaw Road there are usually two trailer homes parked on the side of that street. These trailer homes are filthy, falling apart, and have trash surrounding the vicinity. They are parked under trees with very little street lighting making visibility difficult especially when the sun is going down. I normally walk on the other side of the street adjacent to the trailer homes when I’m walking to and from the train station.
Last Thursday (1/17/2019) as I was walking down Brokaw Road to work I noticed out of the corner of my eye a man step out of the northern most trailer home. This man was verbally harassing and pointing his finger at a fellow train commuter who was walking on the sidewalk right next to the trailer home. As I witnessed this altercation I immediately started to pick up my walking speed to avoid being harassed as well. Soon enough the man who came out of the trailer home started quickly following me and verbally harassing me as well claiming that the sidewalk is not for public use and is for his private use. He kept on following me down Brokaw Road until I reached the intersection of Brokaw Road and Coleman Road. This is a busy intersection and so the man gave up and walked back to his trailer home.
As soon as I got to work I called the Santa Clara police station and was notified by the dispatcher that this wasn’t a high profile case and so I was transferred to 3 other lines. Each line I was transferred to told me that others have already reported similar incidences that morning with the same man. I was given a police report number and was told to refer to that report number when I wanted updates about the incident. Later in the day I got a call from the officer who confronted the man. Apparently the man does not live in the trailer, but he visits the elderly lady who lives in that trailer frequently. The police officer told the man he needed to leave immediately. The man left and the police officer tagged the trailer home. According to the police officer once a vehicle is tagged they have 72 hours to move the vehicle to a different location or else it will be towed. The police officer admitted that usually the towing company doesn’t even bother coming out and towing vehicles like trailer homes since there is too much paperwork involved.
It has been a week since the incident has happened and the two trailer homes on Brokaw Road are still in the same place. Needless to say I feel unsafe walking on north Brokaw Road since the two trailer homes are still in their same spots. I have had to find alternative routes and methods to get to work so that I can avoid walking on Brokaw Road. These alternative routes and methods take longer for me to get to work and to the train station. Essentially I am asking for these two trailer homes and any future trailer homes that are parked on north Brokaw Road to be towed away and to add better lighting as well for future commuters who use this route to get to work or their homes.
Sincerely,
Jackie
