- April 26, 2024
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A homeless woman who threatened a library custodian and her partner on Saturday, March 9, were trespassed from the Flagler County Public Library's Palm Coast Branch property. A machete was at their feet when officials approached, according to the press release from Flagler County.
Jennifer R. Vega, 40, and Shawn C. Baisden, 38, were trespassed from the library.
“This wasn’t the first time the woman had threatened our custodian,” Library Director Holly Albanese said. “I had given her a warning just last week, and I told her that she would be trespassed if it happened again.”
The same officer – Sgt. Barile – responded to both incidents.
The threat “I will kill you!” was scrawled on the divider of the restroom stall that library staff witnessed her leaving. The custodian – who works daily at the library – believes the message was intended for her, as she has had other encounters with Vega.
Baisden was also trespassed. Vega – his “tent mate” – had filed a “no contact” order against Baisden, so he was also in violation of that order.
“We face problems daily,” Albanese said. “There had been a third person with them, but he left before the deputy arrived. There was a machete at their feet, but it isn’t clear who it belonged to.”
Two off-duty Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies worked security at the library on Saturday. Flagler County has a contract through Allied Universal Security Services for its security needs, and will minimally have security on the property starting today, March 11, through the clean-up efforts of the county property behind the library.
While the encampment – on Flagler County property but within the city of Palm Coast – has existed for several years, recently its population has significantly increased. With that increase came more litter, sanitary waste, discarded needles, drug paraphernalia, and a congregation of tents and property that elevated the fire hazard risk.
Flagler County sent its specialized employees and other governmental agency representatives to inspect the property and provide reports on its status.
These included the county’s deputy fire chief, the county’s Code Enforcement supervisor, the county’s land manager, the environmental administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Flagler County, and the county’s Animal Control Office. The county also requested the city of Palm Coast’s fire chief and Code Enforcement manager to inspect the site for their official observations under the applicable city codes.
All of the reports – county, city and state – were in agreement that the encampment needed a cleanup and a substantial reduction of safety and health hazards.
