Sunday while mowing the back ¼ acre of the dark tower estate I notice a tent in the swampy woods on the edge of my property. On my second and last pass of that area I see it is not just a tent but an active camp. Cleared foliage, shirt drying in a tree, propane stove and a gallon jug of water. Damn it.
We only own an acre lot but due to the lay of the land and dense foliage the camp is completely hidden from us and our neighbors. The only way I saw it was mowing a short grassy trail dead ending into a creek. The camp or tent was not there last week but I had seen evidence of clearing some under growth and ashes dumped from a fire pit.
Finish mowing and go inside and tell the wife of our squatting trespasser. Me wife was a bit shocked to hear this and wanted to see for herself. I do not want to have a confrontation with this squatter or my wife, so we walk back to the woods for the wife to take a look. Needless to say a confrontation with a small or large homeless camp is less dangerous than not doing what my wife wants.
My wife and I get back to the make shift camp ground and see a man splayed out the front of the tent. Shirtless torso exposed out the front of the tent, lower body inside the tent and arm draped over face cover his eyes looking skyward. My wife and I silently and immediately do an about face and make our way back to the house.
Before calling the cops I decided to go check with the neighbor whose house is closest to the camp. No one answered the door so I went home and pulled a plot map for the coppers. I got the map because our lot is actually 2 lots in an odd L-shape and our homeless guy is at the far edge of the bottom of the L.
I call the non-emergency line and I told the operator that there is what appears to be a homeless man living in a tent in my woods in the very back corner of the property and would like for him to be trespassed out of there. She transfers me to the immediate line and the phone rings and rings and rings. Dispatch answers after four minutes of ringing I give them my info and she asked for a description and if he has any weapons. I told her I had no idea if he has weapons he was in a tent. The dispatcher said unknown weapons and in a tent, that should make him easy to find.
A solo IMPD officer arrives a few minutes later I tell him what is going on. He is curt and squared away, my wife comes out holding the baby and says hi and the baby goes dadad. The officer is now noticeably less intense and said let’s go do this. I like to think that seeing the cutest baby to ever be on God’s green earth was the rational of the officer’s ease of tension. But it was likely the confirmation that I was the man of the house and not the homeless guy who could of just ax murdered the family inside and now setting the officer up for an ambush. Your guess is as good as mine.
On the walk back there I was describing the area and the location of the tent and just asked if I could go with him and he said sure. Once we entered the woods and seen the tent the officer removed the retention strap from his pistol and made a b-line to the front of the tent and the homeless guy’s head popped out. I stayed on the trail providing over watch and avoiding poison ivy. I was about 25 feet away and I didn’t want to crowd the officer doing his job and I didn’t want the homeless guy to get a good look at me. I could hear about 75% of the conversation, the officer was polite, courteous and unwavering in explaining that the squatter is not allowed where he is at and must leave. The homeless guy agreed to the terms set to him and the officer reminded him not to make him come back and said good bye.
The officer asked me if it was ok to give the guy some time to gather his things and that the guy is indeed homeless. I of course agreed to their request. On the way back to the house the officer gave me a rundown of the situation. The squatter’s boyfriend lives in the neighbor’s house that I went to go check with before I called the cops. The owner of the house is the boyfriend’s uncle. The uncle would not let the homeless boyfriend move in so they decided the homeless guy could live and hideout in my woods until the uncle came around. It was unclear why the uncle didn’t want the homeless BF to live in his house. The officer told me based on his experience and training he did not believe the homeless BF was high or strung-out. I told the officer that I was glad it was not a random vagrant deciding to live in my backyard, and thanked him for his help. The officer thanked me for calling it in, told me to call back if the guy is not gone soon. He said trespassing the guy could be tricky but if he had to come back he would not handle it the nice way like he did this time.
I am happy the guy is off my property, I am glad I didn’t have to do it myself and grateful for the police assistance. The officer’s empathy and professionalism to both parties was very impressive. I feel bad for the homeless guy, but I can’t have him living in my back yard. When I told my wife the story she busted out in uncontrollable laughter, and then said you can’t make this **** up.
We only own an acre lot but due to the lay of the land and dense foliage the camp is completely hidden from us and our neighbors. The only way I saw it was mowing a short grassy trail dead ending into a creek. The camp or tent was not there last week but I had seen evidence of clearing some under growth and ashes dumped from a fire pit.
Finish mowing and go inside and tell the wife of our squatting trespasser. Me wife was a bit shocked to hear this and wanted to see for herself. I do not want to have a confrontation with this squatter or my wife, so we walk back to the woods for the wife to take a look. Needless to say a confrontation with a small or large homeless camp is less dangerous than not doing what my wife wants.
My wife and I get back to the make shift camp ground and see a man splayed out the front of the tent. Shirtless torso exposed out the front of the tent, lower body inside the tent and arm draped over face cover his eyes looking skyward. My wife and I silently and immediately do an about face and make our way back to the house.
Before calling the cops I decided to go check with the neighbor whose house is closest to the camp. No one answered the door so I went home and pulled a plot map for the coppers. I got the map because our lot is actually 2 lots in an odd L-shape and our homeless guy is at the far edge of the bottom of the L.
I call the non-emergency line and I told the operator that there is what appears to be a homeless man living in a tent in my woods in the very back corner of the property and would like for him to be trespassed out of there. She transfers me to the immediate line and the phone rings and rings and rings. Dispatch answers after four minutes of ringing I give them my info and she asked for a description and if he has any weapons. I told her I had no idea if he has weapons he was in a tent. The dispatcher said unknown weapons and in a tent, that should make him easy to find.
A solo IMPD officer arrives a few minutes later I tell him what is going on. He is curt and squared away, my wife comes out holding the baby and says hi and the baby goes dadad. The officer is now noticeably less intense and said let’s go do this. I like to think that seeing the cutest baby to ever be on God’s green earth was the rational of the officer’s ease of tension. But it was likely the confirmation that I was the man of the house and not the homeless guy who could of just ax murdered the family inside and now setting the officer up for an ambush. Your guess is as good as mine.
On the walk back there I was describing the area and the location of the tent and just asked if I could go with him and he said sure. Once we entered the woods and seen the tent the officer removed the retention strap from his pistol and made a b-line to the front of the tent and the homeless guy’s head popped out. I stayed on the trail providing over watch and avoiding poison ivy. I was about 25 feet away and I didn’t want to crowd the officer doing his job and I didn’t want the homeless guy to get a good look at me. I could hear about 75% of the conversation, the officer was polite, courteous and unwavering in explaining that the squatter is not allowed where he is at and must leave. The homeless guy agreed to the terms set to him and the officer reminded him not to make him come back and said good bye.
The officer asked me if it was ok to give the guy some time to gather his things and that the guy is indeed homeless. I of course agreed to their request. On the way back to the house the officer gave me a rundown of the situation. The squatter’s boyfriend lives in the neighbor’s house that I went to go check with before I called the cops. The owner of the house is the boyfriend’s uncle. The uncle would not let the homeless boyfriend move in so they decided the homeless guy could live and hideout in my woods until the uncle came around. It was unclear why the uncle didn’t want the homeless BF to live in his house. The officer told me based on his experience and training he did not believe the homeless BF was high or strung-out. I told the officer that I was glad it was not a random vagrant deciding to live in my backyard, and thanked him for his help. The officer thanked me for calling it in, told me to call back if the guy is not gone soon. He said trespassing the guy could be tricky but if he had to come back he would not handle it the nice way like he did this time.
I am happy the guy is off my property, I am glad I didn’t have to do it myself and grateful for the police assistance. The officer’s empathy and professionalism to both parties was very impressive. I feel bad for the homeless guy, but I can’t have him living in my back yard. When I told my wife the story she busted out in uncontrollable laughter, and then said you can’t make this **** up.
