ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – An un-housed man in Atlanta’s Virginia-Highland neighborhood has continuously been arrested for indecent exposure and urinating in public. Neighbors want to know why he doesn’t stay behind bars.

“I was in total shock like am I really seeing what I’m seeing right now,” said David Robertson, who lives in Virginia-Highland.

For three years, David Robertson has been dealing with this when he walks outside of his condo.

“It’s a never ending battle like what do we do? Like I don’t know what the solution here is,” said Robertson.

The same man, Ruben Gates according to police reports, masturbating in public.

“It’s just you shouldn’t do that in front of people. Period,” said Robertson.

Robertson has called the police more times than he can remember. He’s recorded videos because many times by the time police have arrived, Gates have left. Atlanta police confirmed they arrested Gates at least twice this year.

Gates’ records go as far back as the 1990’s in Fulton County’s system. Gates has seven cases listed with the Municipal Court of Atlanta.

He was arrested for exposing his genitals and public drinking on July 3. That case is still open. Less than two weeks later, he was arrested again for indecency. Three cases are for urinating or defecating in public. Those were closed when gates didn’t show up for court, according to records.

“There’s a lot of these issues around here and it seems that’s the outcome with every single one of them,” said Robertson.

We reached out to the Fulton County district attorney’s office to ask about what the sentencing could be in gates’ open cases and were told they would look into it.

“I just want it to stop. I would love to see it stop,” said Robertson.

According to Georgia law, a person can be sentenced to up to five years in prison for indecency and put on the sex offender registry.

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An Arlington resident and former federal prosecutor is running for Virginia lieutenant governor.

Victor Salgado, the fifth declared candidate vying to be the Democratic Party’s nominee in November, knows he’s a political outsider. But he told ARLnow that possible federal policy changes inspired him to enter the political arena.

“We need to respond to some of the policies of federal encroachment coming our way with smart legislation and partnerships,” he said. “There are going to be important court battles, but I see our next steps as being primarily political.”

Salgado, who spent eight years working in the U.S. Department of Justice, kicked off his campaign this month and launched his website this week.

A campaign video mentions priorities of protections for reproductive rights, special education, and early childhood programs, as well as fighting possible policies related to immigration and citizenship status under the Trump administration.

“When that happens, Richmond needs to step up,” he said in the video.

Virginia’s lieutenant governor has limited duties but, as the president of the Senate, is a key figure in crafting policy around the statehouse.

The son of Peruvian immigrants, Salgado was born and raised in New Jersey. But his legal life — starting with a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University — began in the D.C. area.

From 2006 to 2012, he focused on compliance, enforcement and government investigations at a D.C. law office before leaving for a four-year stint as a Deputy Attorney General of New Jersey.

Salgado returned to the D.C. area in April 2016 as part of the DOJ’s public integrity section, which oversees the investigation and prosecution of all federal crimes affecting government integrity.

He was promoted to senior litigation counsel for the public integrity section in 2020, and remained in that position until this month.

“I cut my chops as a prosecutor, essentially policing our systems of government and protecting our democracy,” Salgado said. “That positions me — quite uniquely — to talk about the issues that I want to talk about in this campaign and the reason why I’m jumping at this juncture.”

Since September 2019, he has also worked as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, focusing on white collar crime and securities fraud.

“I am going to outwork everybody in this race,” Salgado said. “I quit the department so that I can focus on this, exclusively working 18-hour days non-stop from today through the primary.”

He said residents throughout Arlington and Virginia should keep an eye out for him.

“I will be talking to anybody who wants to talk to me,” the candidate said. “You will see me outside of Metro stops greeting people, meeting people outside of grocery stores, talking to people … I want to be busy. I intend to be busy. This is going to be my job, 24/7.”

The other candidates in the Democratic field are state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (15th District), Prince William County School Board chair Babur Lateef, state Sen. Aaron Rouse (22nd District) and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.

The primary election is scheduled for June 17.

A large fire consumed multiple buildings Friday morning on the former Virginia Intermont College campus in what one city official called “a tragedy for our city.”

Videos shared on social media and captured by local news outlets show the massive blaze engulfing structures at the historic college campus. Located in Bristol in western Virginia along the Tennessee border, Virginia Intermont College closed in 2014.

Neal Osborne, a city councilman in Bristol, shared video of the blaze on Facebook, which he said had become “a full inferno” of the college’s main hall by 1:15 a.m.

“There’s no way around it – this is very bad and this is a tragedy for our city, this is a tragedy for our neighborhood, this is a tragedy for everyone who attended Virginia Intermont College,” Osborne said in the post. “This is heartbreaking to see this.”

USA TODAY left a phone message Friday morning with the Bristol Fire Department seeking an update on the fire.

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City councilman: Property owners ‘will have to answer’ for why fire erupted

The fire could be seen in videos burning the main building on campus, as well as adjacent structures. News crews with WJHL-TV reported observing the building collapse after 2 a.m.

Bristol police and firefighters were at the scene, and Osborne said in his video that firefighters from surrounding localities and departments also responded to provide additional aid.

Osborne said he and other city officials had for years pushed the owners of the private property to care for the aging infrastructure, but that those concerns “fell on deaf ears every single time.”

“They will have to answer for this in my mind,” Osborne said. “They will have to answer for why this property was not secured, why they did not take proactive steps to prevent this from happening.”

What is the Virginia Intermont College?

Constructed within view of the Blue Ridge Mountain range, Virginia Intermont College was founded in the late 1800s as an institute for women to get a higher education. It later become coeducational before it was finally shuttered in May 20, 2014 due to financial failure and the loss of its accreditation, the Roanoke Times reported.

Friday morning’s blaze is not the first time a fire has broken out on the closed campus.

Following a previous fire in November, Bristol Fire Chief Mike Armstrong told WJHL that the site was “dangerous” and said his crews prioritized fighting fires without stepping foot inside the aging buildings.

“The floors are rotten, the windows are broken out, the roofs are rotten. And it’s just not safe to be in there with all the debris, the broken glass,” Armstrong said. “I can tell you within the last 12 months, we’ve had multiple fires up here.”

Bristol Vice-Mayor Jake Holmes told WJHL that the site had fallen into disrepair and had become “a hazard.”

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com