Community outcry over local homeless man's alleged repeated threats and violent behavior
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Women living near Montford Park in Asheville are speaking publicly about safety concerns over a homeless man’s alleged repeated violent and threatening acts.
Kevin Rainey, 48, was arrested on May 3 for allegedly smashing up a Montford resident’s car, causing more than $3,000 in damage. Rainey, who has a lengthy criminal rap sheet, including alleged car theft, break-ins and drug charges, is in jail on $1,000 bond. Some Montford residents who say they know his criminal history expect him to bond out and soon be back in their neighborhood.
Montford’s community blog page is filled with residents exchanging accounts of interactions they’ve had in the past two years with Rainey.
“This past week he tried to break into my house at 6 p.m. in broad daylight,” claimed Melissa Hahn. “I caught him trying to open my front door. He immediately started screaming, 'I'm going to kill you.' 'I’m going to come back to your house tonight.’"
She said she began screaming herself.
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"I was yelling as hard as I could because I wanted all my neighbors to come out and see," Hahn said. "We have a variety of witnesses.”
She told News 13 she thought the Asheville police officer who responded to her call didn’t seem engaged in the case and that he told her to file a report online. Hahn said he drove away to look for Rainey and that she was frustrated by what unfolded.
“My message to APD is to take this seriously," she said. "We know he has an extreme history of breaking and entering, we know he has a history of actual violence. They’ve told us not to worry about it, and they don’t think he’ll do anything, but if someone shows up at your front door screaming 'I’m going to kill you' I have to believe that person.”
After News 13 contacted the Asheville Police Department about Hahn's incident, she said a lieutenant called her to discuss the case. Hahn then spoke with News 13 via text, claiming she learned her incident was incorrectly filed as a civil disobedience case and not breaking and entering or communicating threats case.
“She [the lieutenant] apologized and said he should have come back to properly file the paperwork and get the rest of the details," Hahn said.
She said the APD lieutenant told her it wasn't unusual for a responding officer to take quick information and go look for someone, but the fact they never came back for over a week, she told Hahn, is unacceptable. Hahn also asked about the online reporting recommendation by the officer.
“The lieutenant said that’s only for crimes after the fact, and that the situation I described to her should have been handled immediately," Hahn said.
News 13 has confirmed Rainey has been arrested 20 times in Buncombe County since 2007 for alleged crimes. Three years ago local authorities served a warrant for an alleged assault on a female for investigators in Haywood County.
“It seems as if he has some pretty severe psychological problems,” said a female neighbor who lives near Montford Park. The woman spoke on the condition News 13 would not use her name due to safety concerns. The woman is a clinical psychologist who has seen Rainey pacing up and down the street, as well as what she described as angry outbursts and erratic behaving. She said she’s afraid Rainey could hurt or kill someone. She explained one incident of his alleged erratic behavior.
“He was digging around in the dirt in the baseball field, screaming 'somebody has stolen my gold jewelry.’”
A third woman who lives near the park also spoke but asked News 13 not to use her name since she’s interacted with Rainey and has safety concerns. She posted her own account on Montford’s Listserv neighborhood website after reading about Rainey and seeing photos of him.
“When I saw the initial post I was very concerned because I realized this is the same person.” She said she’s witnessed Rainey go off on a driver coming down Gay Street which is a dead-end to a children’s playground and Montford Park.
“He made very specific threats about how he was going to kill the man,” said the woman. She said she wants Asheville leaders to show more leadership when it comes to the complicated homelessness crisis.
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“Where’s the action plan? I’m afraid at night, I don’t feel comfortable going out to walk my dog."
Last year, police confirm Rainey was charged with communicating threats but the charge was a misdemeanor. A spokeswoman for the community response team made up of Asheville firemen responds to homeless cases but when a person exhibits violence, spokeswoman Kelley Klope said the cases are handled by APD.
An APD source tells News 13 officers speak weekly with Asheville Fire Department community responders. But Klope said currently, the team doesn’t have a licensed clinician who could help assess an individual exhibiting erratic or potentially psychotic behavior.
To contact the response team, Klope said individuals can email communityresponder@ashevillenc.gov. If you don’t get a response, call AFD directly at 828-259-5636.