Police, mayor evicting homeless from downtown bridge, cleaning area

YOUNGSTOWN

City police are helping to clean up homeless encampments on the railroad tracks downtown.

Chief Robin Lees said today that officers with the Community Police Unit along with members of the parks department are collecting trash and other items to be thrown away at the site of the encampments, some of which are under the Walnut Street and Marshall Street bridges.

Lees said if people try to come back and stay, they will be issued criminal-trespass citations, because that property is owned by railroads which do not want outsiders trespassing. Lees said if someone has a warrant for failing to appear in court for a previous citation, they could be arrested and taken to jail.

The idea to clean up the tracks came after a fire at one of the encampments a couple weeks ago, which engulfed the entire encampment. Lees said he toured the area a couple of days later and was disturbed by the mess that was left, including a large amount of empty beer and liquor cans and bottles, burn barrels and the burned-out remains of tents and other items.

He returned a couple of days later to show the area to Mayor John A. McNally, and they found another tent that was destroyed by fire and still smoldering, Lees said.

Read more about the situation in Tuesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.