Cleanup crews begin clearing out homeless encampment at RV storage lot in City of Industry

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. (KABC) -- Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies appeared to be providing assistance as crews began clearing out a homeless encampment at an RV storage lot in the City of Industry on Thursday.

The agency said deputies were on scene "monitoring the situation" while property owners cleaned up the area. No arrests were made.

About 50 RVs that are supposed to be vacant have been broken into and turned into a place to stay for the homeless. There have been fires and vandalism at the storage lot.

The lot is located near Azusa and Gale avenues and is leased out to multiple people, including the RV company Black Series and the Nissan dealership across the street.

"People just started coming in, taking ownership of them, and they started vandalizing them, living in them, breaking windows," said Gerardo Torres, who works at the Nissan dealership nearby.

A judge recently ordered the lot cleaned up.

City crews used bulldozers to haul away trash. The L.A. County Sheriff's Homeless Outreach Team responded on Thursday and discovered at least 40 people trespassing on the property.

"We found somebody who is very vulnerable. They had been walking up and down the tracks and they had heard there was a place here, and they were addicted to narcotics. They're homeless and they found a safe haven here," said LASD Capt. Geff Deedrick. "They accepted services within five minutes of talking to us and now they are placed in an interim shelter bed."

A statement from city manager Joshua Nelson said in part:

"The City has been working diligently with the owners of the property and the Industry Sheriff's station to resolve the issues at Gale and Azusa Avenues. The city does not own the site. This is a private trespass dispute between the property owners and a private party. The City is working with the property owners in helping to coordinate cleanup efforts at the site."

The lot is now heavily monitored and authorities say formal evictions will take effect in a few days for trespassers who return.

"At the end of this process these trailers will not be on this lot. This will be a vacant piece of land. So this problem will not reoccur," Deedrick said.