LB HOMELESS flee to Lakewood

After an LB encampment got destroyed, East Lakewood's homelessness spiked.

Visit our interactive homeless tracking map that gets updated somewhat regularly.

Note: This is the fourth installment of our 4-part series on homelessness in Lakewood. Please click the following links for the homeless articles on East Lakewood, central Lakewood and western Lakewood.

The cleanup of a major homeless encampment in Long Beach resulted in homeless moving into East Lakewood, a sheriff’s deputy confirmed.

New homeless encampments have popped up east of the 605 Freeway, particularly along Carson Street and Centralia Street near Pioneer Boulevard:

This person routinely uses this shopping center near Pioneer Blvd. and Centralia Street as an encampment.

·        Centralia Street: A man with a shopping cart regularly sleeps in a strip mall’s parking lot, where a van with three people have also camped;

Residents have lately complained about this encampment near the 605 Freeway, south of the Centralia Street bridge. Photo sent to the Lakewood Populist June 30, 2021.

·        Centralia Street’s overpass of the 605 Freeway: A man repeatedly camped on the bridge and residents documented a new homeless encampment alongside a storm drain on vacant public land;

Homeless have taken over the sidewalk and streets with carts, furniture and themselves on private and public property near Pioneer Boulevard and Carson Street. This is on the LAKEWOOD SIDE of the intersection.

·        Carson Street:

o   Homeless have taken over the public street, the public sidewalk, as well as private property with their shopping carts loaded with goods in several areas along the street;

o   Lawn chairs and other belongings are always on the sidewalk on both the Lakewood side of the intersection, and a similar setup on the Hawaiian Gardens’ side only got cleared due to recent construction work;

o   Two vehicles appear to be used for storage by the homeless and the Lakewood Populist has witnessed a homeless man’s van from Hawaiian Gardens illegally parking in the middle of the street next to this encampment.

The encampment alongside the Lakewood public sidewalk near Carson Street and Pioneer Boulevard is particularly concerning since a mother reported to the Lakewood Populist of a man attempting to detain her daughter. The underage girl fled by running under the 605 Freeway to the nearby El Pollo Loco, where she eventually found shelter. The mother and daughter declined to report the matter to law enforcement.

Also near the Carson Street and Pioneer Boulevard intersection is a mechanic shop where the homeless freely sleep, having a permanent presence there. It has been reported to the Lakewood Populist that the business owner allows the homeless to use his property.

A little further north, the Lakewood Populist has also documented homeless making new encampments in front of Haskell Middle School near Del Amo Boulevard and the 605 Freeway, an area adjacent to East Lakewood’s border.

Also in this area is a Starbucks that on Aug. 4 experienced a naked homeless man jumping over the counter and drinking the café’s fluids before vomiting in the store, a store employee reported to the Lakewood Populist. The eventually naked homeless man was reportedly looking into the backyards of nearby homes before trespassing onto the Starbucks’ work area. The Starbucks employee told the Lakewood Populist that law enforcement dispatch asked workers to stay with the man and keep him inside before sheriff’s deputies arrived.

Near Del Amo Boulevard and Los Coyotes Boulevard. This is a new encampment near where homeless have assaulted people NAKED and have reportedly tried to break into homes.

Several months ago, a similar situation occurred with a naked homeless man visiting the Starbucks and nearby Del Taco on two occasions on the same night. The Lakewood Populist has now documented a new homeless encampment next to a private residence and the Starbucks parking lot.

There are also several homeless encampments near the Del Amo Boulevard and 605 Freeway intersection, but the underground homeless bunker area has had most of its trash removed. However, the Lakewood Populist witnessed homeless storing several of their belongings into the underground storm drain and said belongings are still there.

Near Del Amo Boulevard and Pioneer Boulevard is a bus stop on the Cerritos side of the intersection that homeless habitually frequent to rest. However, the Lakewood Populist has also documented homeless camping on the private property of the Lakewood H-Mart. A Goody’s Pizza employee also reported two homeless, whom the Lakewood Populist documented via pictures, illegally loitering in front of the store in an area meant for customers.

What caused this SPIKE in homelessness?

This is only PART of this major homeless encampment cleaned up in Long Beach (near Willow Street and the 605 Freeway) on June 8. Photo taken May 18, 2021.

The Lakewood Populist already documented East Lakewood’s many homeless encampments, including several not mentioned here, but it’s obvious with the now-permanent presence of homeless on the LAKEWOOD SIDEWALK near Carson Street and Pioneer Boulevard that things have gotten incredibly worse.

Why? Well, it all occurred after a major homeless encampment south of East Lakewood was destroyed.

Near Willow Street and the 605 Freeway in Long Beach: After this major homeless encampment was cleaned up on June 8, 2021, homelessness has SPIKED in East Lakewood. Part of the encampment, Encampment #1, is seen on Google maps above.

Near the intersection of Willow Street and the 605 Freeway, workers from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and Caltrans performed a cleanup of makeshift shelters, tents and furniture between Coyote Creek and El Dorado Park. The cleanup began June 8, wrote Paul Duncan, a homeless services officer for Long Beach, via email.

Part of the homeless encampment can actually be seen on Google maps and the Lakewood Populist has documented how the encampment appeared before being torn down.

Since the Long Beach cleanup, homelessness has spiked around the Carson Street and Pioneer Boulevard intersection.

From the 7-Eleven store, pictured above (Pioneer Blvd. and Carson Street intersection) to the 605 Freeway on and off ramps on Del Amo Boulevard, homeless have conquered public and private property.

An employee at the area’s 7-Eleven reported that the store gets robbed by the same people every few weeks. According to this employee: residents and the can’t do anything; only the police can do something.

Things got so bad at a business on the Hawaiian Gardens side of the intersection that about six months ago the owner told his landlord he couldn’t continue doing business after having been attacked and harassed by area homeless: one threw a bottle at him, others threatened him and others told him to go back to the owner’s country. The landlord later stopped homeless from loitering in the shopping strip’s parking lot.

WHAT NOW?

A sheriff’s deputy at the Aug. 3 Night Out event in Palms Park confirmed to the Lakewood Populist that homeless from the June 8 cleanup moved to the area around Carson Street and Pioneer Boulevard.

“Los Angeles County Public Works serves the homeless community, respecting the individual rights, dignity and safety of the persons experiencing homelessness...and ensuring the safety of the surrounding community. This is paramount to our efforts,” wrote Mark Pestrella, director of county public works, via email.

The county’s public works department follows protocol during cleanups of homeless encampments that doesn’t disperse homeless into the community, Pestrella noted in his email.

“Public Works collaborates with local service providers and law enforcement to ensure an encampment and the surrounding area are provided prior notice and (homeless) are offered support services for those interested,” Pestrella wrote.

Several factors contribute to the rise of homelessness, according to Councilman Todd Rogers, such as businesses, residents or churches providing homeless services. Court decisions also limit authorities’ ability to enforce vagrancy-related issues.

“A third factor is service resistant homeless individuals who choose to remain on the streets despite offers of services,” Rogers wrote.

So is there anything the authorities and private citizens can do? The answer is absolutely YES.

California Civil Code Section 3479 gives residents the right to use and enjoy their property: “Anything which is injurious to health, including, but  not limited to, the illegal sale of controlled substances, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in a customary manner, of any navigable lake, or river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any public park, square, street, or highway, is a nuisance.”

It would appear that the citizens who cannot enjoy their property due to homeless encampments have the right to sue business owners or governments that allow homeless encampments that take away citizens’ right to use and enjoy their property.

It also appears that law enforcement is not doing its job in allowing homeless to block the public sidewalk on a 24/7 basis. When the Lakewood Populist at the Night Out event alerted a sheriff’s deputy about this, the deputy said it would only move the homeless to a different location.

GET INVOLVED
Email and post on the Facebook pages of Lakewood City Council and Lakewood resident plus STATE SPEAKER ANTHONY RENDON. Also, join @Lakewood Citizens for Freedom on Facebook.