H6 | Sunday, August 16, 2020 | SFChronicle.com
SFChronicle.com | Sunday, August 16, 2020 |
THEO
HOMELESS AT AGE 7
“I DON’T WANT TO LIVE IN A TENT ANYMORE BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ON HARD GROUND.” THEO
THE THOUGHT OF GONZALES “LIVING IN A TENT WITH MY KID, IT IS JUST EATING ME ALIVE. I TRY TO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT TOO MUCH BECAUSE IT DRIVES ME CRAZY.” PA U L S C H R A G E R
Berkeley Marina. The RV was the last place Theo consistently had a roof over his head. It didn’t have electricity or running water, and it didn’t run. But it was still safer than a tent. “We were roughing it,” Schrager said. “But it beat having to pay hotels and having to stay with people.” In July 2018, though, the city towed the vehicle, and so the couple started living in hotels. Before a chance encounter in June, the last time Theo saw his father was on Halloween 2018. In an all-black ninja costume from Target, with his parents on either side of him, Theo walked in his school’s parade along Solano Avenue in Berkeley. Schrager has photos from that day on his phone: Theo smiling wide with his ninja mask pushed away from his face. After the parade, Schrager said, Gonzales went back to their hotel and he took Theo to get pizza. Gonzales panicked when they did not return when she expected. She called police and reported him for hitting her several months earlier. “I was just looking for a way out,” she said. Gonzales filed for and received a criminal protective order against Schrager that prevents him from seeing her. Schrager admitted he has hit her in the past. “I shouldn’t have reacted or put my hands on her ever,” Schrager said. “I just don’t think it’s fair for her to totally shut me out of his life. I will admit my wrongs. I wish she would admit hers.” Often, when his father’s name is mentioned, Theo hides under blankets or starts throwing toys, screaming or hitting his mother. Still, he says, he misses his dad. “I still love him.” Last August, a judge granted Schrager six days of visitation with his son each month, instructing the
couple to meet at the Berkeley Police Department to exchange Theo. But Gonzales has not shown up for the visits. Now, Schrager is suing Gonzales to abide by the visitation order. Late last year, a judge issued a bench warrant for her arrest after she didn’t show up for court dates. She has not yet been arrested, nor is she likely to be. “We are supposed to be reaching out to (homeless people) at this time and providing resources, not arresting them,” said Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The custody case was put on hold at the start of the pandemic. Gonzales said she wants to protect her son. She doesn’t want him to grow up to be like Schrager. Schrager said he has gone to rehab, taken anger management and parenting classes, and been clean since June 2019. He wants Theo to come live with him in his RV or with his mother. The thought of Gonzales “living in a tent with my kid, it is just eating me alive,” Schrager said. “I try to not even think about it too much because it drives me crazy.” THEO KICKS HIS FEET INTO THE AIR on the swing set at Strawberry Creek Park. A young girl on the swing next to him asks where he lives. “Right there,” Theo says. He points to the tent behind them. A green hammock is tied to two trees nearby. “Do you like it?” the little girl asks. “I don’t like it,” Theo says. “I only like the hammock.” Theo doesn’t like to admit that he’s homeless,
“I’M SORRY THAT YOU’RE OUTSIDE HOMELESS HONEY. YOU DON’T DESERVE IT, AT ALL. NO CHILD DESERVES THIS, BUT MINE REALLY DOESN’T DESERVE THIS.” LEAH NAOMI GONZALES
H7