Man banned from Market Street bathroom following walk

THE WOODLANDS (KTRK) -- A Woodlands-area man has been banned from an entire shopping center for cleaning up in a bathroom after a Sunday walk.

"How am I going to get my dry cleaning?" Chris Young asked.

It's not a joke but a real problem for him now.

Sunday morning, after a walk along the Woodlands Waterway, Young stopped at a restroom in the Market Street shopping center to clean up. He says he was just wetting his hair down and brushing his teeth so he could go straight to church. Market Street is home to dozens of restaurants and shops, a movie theater and grocery store.

"I've done nothing wrong," said Young.

In a statement, Market Street management told Eyewitness News their "restrooms are available for use by our patrons. They are not intended for showering or bathing."

Young says he was confronted by Montgomery County Sheriff's deputies and then -- at the request of Market Street security -- given a warning for criminally trespassing. It's private property and they have that right, according to Lt. Brady Fitzgerald.

"Information was received that there was a subject there utilizing the bathroom as a shower and had been previously warned. The subject was asked to leave, refused to leave," said Fitzgerald.

"No one had told me to leave the facility," disputed Young. "I'm a 52-year-old gentleman. I would have gladly left if there was a complaint."

He also said he had never been previously warned.

In response, Young filed a complaint with the sheriff's office against the deputies. He says he also called Market Street management to complain.

"I don't think that's how they should treat their residents," said Young.

Now his trespassing warning prohibits him from returning to the shopping center for two years and if he does, he could go to jail.

"I think that's totally ridiculous," he added.