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Salvation Army shuts down service center after woman, 82, raped

ORLANDO, Fla. — The day after a homeless man was arrested on charges of  sexually battering an 82-year-old woman Saturday, a homeless feeding program next door to the apartment complex where the attack happened temporarily shut down, officials said.

Some think it's because of the homeless nearby.

A day after an arrest happened, the Salvation Army closed down a services center near the William Booth Towers.

The Salvation Army did not say if it was because of the weekend's incident.
Thursday, a meeting was held at the apartment complex to address ongoing safety concerns.

Some residents said they want the homeless population out of their neighborhood.

Residents still can't believe what police said happened to an elderly woman in their apartment complex.

Officers said they arrested Dominic Reed for the crime.

One man, who did not want to be identified, said up to 100 homeless people can surround his apartment complex on a daily basis.

"Just stand over here. Sometimes at nighttime you can hear people having sex here from all the bums that come. You know, transients, bums," said the man.

A homeless woman, who wanted only to be identified as Kathy, said she and other homeless people are now being penalized.

"Well, you have the Salvation Army here. They have a thing called 'The Well' which they, ever since the incident happened over here, they shut it down," Kathy said.

It was where the homeless come to eat food and take showers. Thursday a sign on the door said "The Well" will be closed until further notice. It is just feet away from the Salvation Army William Booth Towers.

The Salvation Army said The Well will likely reopen Monday.

It's good news for the homeless, but not so comforting for some residents.

"This is not the area for them," said one resident.

A spokesperson for the Salvation Army said that they shut down The Well all week because of staffing issues and because it "made sense to shut it down because of this incident."