Some campers relocated from Wilbur Avenue cleanup in March; 18 vehicles with expired tags towed; police recover 3 stolen vehicles from location; advocate complains, acting city manager explains

By Allen D. Payton

Some of Antioch’s homeless residents living in campers and motor homes that were cleared from Wilbur Avenue on March 22, 2024, relocated to private property in Antioch off Laurel and Neroly Roads, in the land next to Highway 4 along the creek. Posts on social media on Monday, April 8, 2024, showed Antioch Police Officers on the scene clearing the new encampment. Accusations were made by both the unhoused that officers blocked in the campers, not allowing them to leave and instead, towed some of the vehicles.

Local homeless advocate, Nichole Gardner drove to the site during Monday’s abatement and spoke with one of the residents named Harry who said, “they gave us notice, then the blocked the gate not letting anyone get out.”

She also asked an officer why there were no members of Antioch’s Care Team on site at the time, referring to them as “the purple people” as they dress in purple-colored shirts. He directed her to speak to other City staff. Gardner posted two videos of her visit to the site. See video 1 & video 2. (WARNING: Graphic language)

Acting City Manager and Economic Development Director Kwame Reed was asked about the City’s efforts. In response he wrote, “The City of Antioch, along with our Contra Costa County partners, conducted an abatement operation that recovered stolen property and more than a dozen vehicles. The operation also allowed us to offer services to community members in a homeless encampment.

The encampment in the Lindsey Detention Basin has continued to grow over the past few months. In that time, officers recovered three stolen vehicles and located a stolen ATM.

On April 3rd, Antioch officers and the Angelo Quinto Community Response Team (“Care Team”) visited the area and met with nearly a dozen people at the encampment. Over the next few days, officers and the Care Team continued to check in and offer services.

During the operation, Code Enforcement, the Care Team, Public Works, and the County’s C.O.R.E. Outreach team worked together to conduct the abatement. 18 vehicles with expired vehicle registrations were towed. Officers located two striped motorcycles and an industrial floor sweeper, all suspected of being stolen.

Through this multi-faceted approach, we were able to clear the area of trash, debris, and abandoned vehicles. We want to thank our community partners for their support in this effort.”

Questions were sent Tuesday evening to Reed, Department of Public Safety and Community Resources Director Tasha Johnson and Jazmin Ridley, the City’s Unhoused Resident Coordinator.

They were asked:

1. Since the 18 vehicles were towed, where are the homeless residents expected to live until they can pay the registration, towing and storage fees to recover them? Won’t they end up on city streets living in tents instead?
2. Also, couldn’t the City provide at least the vehicle registration fees from some of the funds in the budget for unhoused residents, as one way to help them stay off the street?
3. While the land in the Lindsey Detention Basin is privately owned, it appears some of the homeless residents living in RV’s relocated from Wilbur Avenue following the abatement there on March 22, isn’t the result of the City’s actions simply moving them from place to place, since the City has no place for them to locate?
4. What is the City doing to provide for a location for homeless residents – as was previously proposed on city-owned property such as the lot on Fitzuren Road when the City had the five state-donated trailers – to live in their RV’s while working with the county’s CORE team to help them move into permanent housing?
5. Or is the City merely hoping they will relocate out of Antioch?
6. Finally, what services did Antioch’s Care Team and the county’s CORE Team provide to the residents?

Attempts to reach Gardner for additional comment were unsuccessful prior to publication time.

Please check back later for any responses to this report.

the attachments to this post:

Homeless encampment abatement 04-08-24 scrnshts

APD Officer speaks with displaced resident 04-08-24

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 9th, 2024 at 9:07 pm and is filed under Homeless, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.