After being discovered living in caves beside the Tuolumne River, homeless people in California were removed over the weekend by volunteers and the Modesto Police Department.
Police were assisted in clearing them out by volunteers from Tuolumne River Trust and Operation 9-2-99, who removed some 7,600 pounds of trash from the region, according to the authorities.
The Modesto Police Department released a statement saying, “This particular area has been plagued by vagrancy and illegal camps, which have raised concerns due to the fact that these camps were actually caves dug into the riverbanks.”
According to the Police, “the cleaned rubble packed two truckloads and a trailer”.
Residents of the surrounding homeless camps and caverns were notified about the operation and provided with information about services prior to the cleanup, according to the department.
Some of the completely furnished caves were almost 20 feet below street level, suggesting that vagrants had been residing there for a while. Bedding, personal possessions, food, objects on a makeshift mantel, narcotics, and guns were among the items discovered inside, according to KOVR, the local news station.