DC intern raises $400,000 for homeless man with alleged violent criminal past

A college student in Washington, D.C., went viral on TikTok when she helped a homeless man, raising more than $400,000 in a GoFundMe account for him.

Sanai Graden, a Washington college student, was seen in a recent viral social media post getting a homeless man tea, going to CVS to help pay for his cancer treatment medication, and, eventually, helping him get a hotel room. The homeless man reportedly has had an alleged lengthy and violent criminal history, including viciously beating a homeless woman and stabbing a man in the neck.

Graden had moved to Washington from California three weeks prior for a fashion internship and was heading to the grocery store when she encountered the man. She was in the middle of vlogging about her day while walking on the street when she began talking to the homeless man, Alonzo Douglas Hebron.

She told Fox 5, who reported the alleged criminal history, that she wanted to help Hebron get off the street and turn his life around by helping him get documents, a trust for the money, healthcare, and permanent housing.

An unnamed homeless woman also claimed to have been attacked by Hebron. Video footage from a security camera reportedly showed Hebron putting a scarf over the sleeping woman’s head and viciously punching her head and body for several minutes on the steps of the Foundry United Methodist Church on P Street. She woke up in the hospital after the attack. The incident was documented by the Metropolitan Police Department in June 2020.

EXCLUSIVE 🚔🚨 Did you see that viral TikTok video of a college student interning in DC and buying a homeless man tea? The young lady then created a GoFundMe page for him that has now raised more than $400K. However, @fox5dc has uncovered the man has a lengthy criminal history. pic.twitter.com/fCEYqvgQ7y

— Sierra Fox (@thesierrafox) February 7, 2024 “I do not understand how a human being can act like this. He’s a sociopath. He does not have a sense of remorse,” the woman told Fox 5 on Wednesday.

The woman added that Hebron was known to be a violent and dangerous person among the homeless in the district.

She claimed that seeing the viral video of Hebron affected her emotionally.

“I’m an alcoholic in recovery. Last week was my 18-month anniversary, and the last two days, I came close, but I didn’t because he’s not worth it,” she said.

She did, however, give the college student “kudos” for being a compassionate person helping someone believed to have been in need.

“Kudos to the woman who did this. She meant well, and I do applaud her for that. I know it was a lot of work for her to do so, but portraying him as something he just simply isn’t—” the anonymous woman went on.

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“Why is he on the street? How many people does he have to hurt before — I’m sorry,” the woman said. “He will not stop. I don’t know what they’re waiting for.”

Hebron’s criminal past reportedly includes stabbing a man in the neck during a fight, which sent him to prison for five years in 2012. He also was involved in numerous assaults and robberies.

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