Residents of a Seattle neighborhood are angry tramps who live in a camp and spend summer days installing an inflatable pool to enjoy between hits of fentanyl.
Highland Park homeowners – many of them older – say building a pool in the area is a slap in the face after months of voicing their concerns.
Video taken by KOMO in the Seattle area shows a woman sitting on a couch by the pool in broad daylight and smoking fentanyl.
“These people come in and they totally trash the place.” “Someone told me they hooked up a hose and filled a swimming pool with it,” said Herb Egge, who lives nearby.
Egge and other residents of a retirement home across from the camp say they fear being shot or robbed by one of the homeless people.
The camp witnessed a recent murder, but officials in the crime-ridden city are reluctant to evict the camp, despite outrage from nearby law-abiding taxpayers.
“If I hear the shooting, I stay downstairs and stay away from the windows,” Cheryl Galyeam said. “Sometimes I had to get on the floor in the middle of the night.
Residents of a Seattle neighborhood are angry tramps living in a camp who spend summer days installing inflatable pools and smoking fentanyl
Video taken by KOMO in the Seattle area shows a woman sitting on a couch by the pool in broad daylight and smoking fentanyl
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, what’s next?'” said Cheryl Galyeam (pictured) in reference to the pool
Local residents say they are not sure where the pool came from and how it was filled with water.
The logistics aren’t a concern for residents, who share their concerns – and anger – at the camp growing along SR 509 and the Myers Way.
“It’s all ridiculous,” Egge said.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, what’s next?'” Galyeam said in reference to the pool.
At first they said it was just a couple of RVs. The number is now over a dozen.
“And they don’t pay anything and stuff like that, but we have to pay to live here,” said another angry neighbor.
Egge said his own vehicle had been broken into several times since the camp began and someone had even drilled into his gas tank.
“I never thought I would have to worry so much at 72, but times have changed,” the man told KOMO News.
“Especially as older people, we shouldn’t have to worry about our possessions or our lives,” he continued.
Highland Park homeowners – many of them older – say building a pool in the area is a slap in the face after months of voicing their concerns
“These people come in and they totally wreak havoc on the place.” “Someone told me they hooked up a hose and filled a swimming pool with it,” Herb Egge (pictured) said.
At first they said it was just a couple of RVs. The number is now over a dozen
Residents added that many of the elderly regularly heard gunfire from the camp and kept their curtains closed at all times.
“It’s not safe,” Galyeam said.
Fears have only increased since a man was killed in the camp in May.
“We were like, ‘Oh wow, there’s been a murder.’ You’re going to pay us some attention now.’ They didn’t,” said Diane Radischat, who lives in Arrowhead Gardens.
“We want solutions and we want to know where the problems lie. If you have repeatedly had the same problem in different places, you know what to do.”
Speaking to KING 5 in May, Radischat said that the homelessness crisis is close to her heart and that of others in the complex and that both concerns can exist at the same time.
“We are as concerned for their safety and well-being as we are for our own,” she said.
“We criticize the situation.” We don’t criticize the people. “Those are two different things,” the resident said.
Residents added that many of the elderly regularly heard gunfire from the camp and kept their curtains closed at all times
In a letter Radischat passed on to KOMO, the Seattle Mayor’s Office said it was working on plans to deal with the camp.
The effort requires collaboration from the Washington State Department of Transportation and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.
“We recognize that this has been a long and often frustrating process for residents of Arrowhead Gardens, and we are pleased to be moving closer to a site resolution,” the letter reads.
“The Unified Care Team is also discussing with WSDOT possible short-term activation strategies after site closure to prevent repopulation.”
Residents’ concerns arise amid the area’s ongoing homelessness and drug crises.
In June, a fire destroyed two tents at the camp after a man using a fire pit left his tent unattended
Seattle: Here is a man lying openly on the sidewalk using a hypodermic needle
In early July, reported that a July 4th parade had to be rerouted to avoid a fentanyl-infested homeless encampment for “everyone’s safety”.
In early July, reported that a July 4th parade had to be rerouted to avoid a fentanyl-infested homeless camp “for everyone’s safety”.
According to local media, the parade in Burien, south of Seattle, was modified to avoid a homeless camp with up to 20 tents.
Like the residents of Highland Park, Burien cannot disband the camp due to the bureaucracy involved in the process.
Some business owners in the city also told local branches that they had lost customers because they no longer felt “safe”.
Last month, the Seattle City Council voted not to pass a law that would have allowed prosecutors to prosecute cases of public drug use.
The move would have forced Seattle to comply with the state’s new drug possession law, which makes the crime a gross misdemeanor.
Then, within hours, photos emerged showing homeless people openly abusing drugs on the city’s streets.
One shows a man injecting drugs into his hand with a hypodermic needle in front of a liquor store.
The council bill was not passed by a vote of 5 to 4 as Council members Alex Pedersen, Sara Nelson, Debora Juarez and Dan Strauss voted in favor of the bill.