A young construction worker angry at the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles has been charged with the the murder of a petty thief and heroin addict, prosecutors say.
Vincent Wolf, 23, ranted on Instagram about homeless people before he was charged with shooting dead Travis Harker, 29, on August 5th, in the San Fernando Valley.
Wolf, who lived with his mother and aunt in a apartment complex off Foothill Boulevard next to a rundown RV encampment, made numerous posts about the homeless.
RV encampments have become a huge problem in the city.
“They s**t and piss on the street,” Wolf wrote on Instagram in August, according to the police search warrant affidavit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in August.
“They do drugs in the middle of the night. They f***ing screamed for no reason. And most importantly violent.
“It’s all corrupt politicians left nor right,” Wolf wrote, according to the affidavit, “Elderly people in the young don’t deserve none of this.”
Prosecutors alleged it was these feelings about the homeless outside his second-floor apartment that drove him to an act of violence.
Wolf told police it was a case of self-defense, the LA Times reported. But police said surveillance footage told a different story.
Los Angeles Police Det. Benyamin Sadeh, who investigated the homicide, told the LA Times that Harker was a heroin addict who had frequently broken into cars.
Records show Harker previously did time for drug possession and grand theft. In August he was arrested for allegedly being in possession of heroin, cocaine, and financial documents that belonged to two women. After his arraignment he was released from jail. A few days later, he was dead.
Sadeh said Wolf told police that Harker had threatened to stab him and his dog, holding something he thought that looked like a knife.
But police said that surveillance video from a nearby business showed Harker outside the RV screwing around with something on a table when Wolf shot him.
Sadeh said there was “zero” confrontation.
“No words were exchanged. The victim didn’t even see it coming.”
Police said the 23-year-old man was fueled with anger over the homeless crisis.
Wolf told police it was self-defense, but surveillance video showed otherwise.
The detective obtained a warrant for Wolf’s Instagram record which revealed things he had written about the homelessness he was seeing in the city.
“Like there isn’t a whole a** homeless man s***ing on the ground as you pass by” and “Where can I get one to kick the homeless out of my neighborhood?”
There are 6,290 RVs being used as makeshift dwellings, per the agency.
There are 72,000 homeless in the city.
Wolf has pleaded not guilty to murder.
There are about 72,000 homeless people in LA County, according to 2025 data from the LA Homeless Services Authority.
There’s also 6,290 RVs being used as makeshift dwellings.
The California Post reached out to the LA District Attorney’s office said they couldn’t comment on the case because it was ongoing.
The Post also contacted Wolf’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Ralf Jacobsen, and the LAPD for further information.
