Homeless living outside Charlotte store accused of boldly intimidating neighbor

Dorothy Woods' safe space has become everything but. She says she lives in fear in her own home because of a group of homeless people who have set up camp outside the old Park N Shop Grocery Store off Wilkinson Blvd.

"It's like having somebody watch you from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed," she said.

Woods' home is feet away from the eyesore that is littered with bottles and trash. She says she deals with the tenants camped out around the clock.

"They scream out, hey baby, every time I come home. Standing up and urinating off the building," she said.

But she doesn't just claim to deal with cat calls, Woods tells WBTV someone snatched the lawn mower from chained to her porch, last month.

"I was like, I know my lawnmower isn't gone. And sure enough," she said.

The very next day, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were called to her house when the the window of her back door was smashed in. Woods said thieves got away with jewelry and her checkbook.

"You don't know which one it was, so everyone is suspect," she said.

Woods wants the property owner to take responsibility for the building that's been vacant for over a decade. Property records show it belongs to the Reid Family, who owned the Park N Shop Grocery chain for years. Multiple calls made by WBTV to multiple numbers went unanswered.

"I would just like for them to ride through. See it and ask themselves the question, do they want that in their neighborhood," she said.

Police are investigating the crimes, while Woods patiently waits for someone to step up and clean up her eyesore.

"All I know is it's taking too long," she said.

This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 6:31 AM with the headline "Homeless living outside Charlotte store accused of boldly intimidating neighbor."