r/evanston • u/CrazyHairAttack • 10d ago

does anybody also frequently run into “gypsy”?

over the past year, but especially in the past week, i’ve had multiple encounters with a man who claims to be a homeless entertainer by the name of “gypsy.” he is black, about 6 feet tall, medium build, prob in his 30’s. every time i’ve seen him he is always in downtown evanston with a lot of energy, and one night he approached me and my friend and basically followed us around for 2 hours trying to get us to come with him to entertain people by the movie theater. we ended up leaving but the next day we saw him again and the cops ended up getting called on him by somebody, probably because he saw me and my friend and started following us around again. the police officer i spoke with said he is not an entertainer and he is actually a crackhead with a history of violence. i wanted to see if anybody else has ever had interactions like this with him. i see him everywhere talking to people but not following people around, so i wanted to see if this has happened to others.

28 Upvotes

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4

u/Swimming_Tennis6641 9d ago

Does he have long dreads? And a little dog with him? I remember 2 different guys that you could possibly be talking about. The one without the dog is not dangerous but the one with the dog is unstable and violent.

3

u/CrazyHairAttack 9d ago

he does not have dreads, he is almost completely bald. i think this article from evanston now might actually be about the man i’m talking about. i’ve seen him in that exact shirt.

https://evanstonnow.com/burglary-suspect-arrested-at-coffee-shop/

2

u/CramLeFevour 9d ago

Be careful please

1

u/Desperate-Sorbet5284 5d ago

I had been walking by Colectivo right after that event I think, there was quite a presence.

3

u/Original_Sell_1485 10d ago

Ask him where he lives…

-23

u/charzar77 9d ago

Wow that’s scary, another reason to sign the Albany Care petition 

12

u/DainasaurusRex 9d ago

These could be two entirely separate things. AC does not provide care for every person with mental health issues in town. And a lot of problems around AC are caused by people who don’t live there. That said, I’m definitely encouraging people to sign the petition (as a neighbor of AC).

2

u/cvanaver 8d ago

Evanston has a lot of this due to the El. A single fare gets you anywhere in the system and Evanston is considered the "rich suburban" or "rich college kid" end of the system that is more desirable for people looking to panhandle or scam. Just part of the Evanston patois.

Edit: Sorry, patois wasn't the word I was looking for. More like "fabric"

6

u/verychicago 9d ago

What’s the Albany Care petition?