Orlando heartless "evicting" already homeless

Eviction from shanties leaves homeless looking for new spots
Kate Santich Sentinel Staff Writer
April 27, 2008

Darlene and Michael Downs might sound like a lot of struggling couples.

He is chronically ill; she doesn't work so she can take care of him. And now they're faced with losing their home -- a four-room place where they hang their wedding photos and snapshots of the grandkids and snuggle up before their 27-inch color TV.

Except home in this case is a shanty in the woods off John Young Parkway. And the Downses, like their neighbors amid these vine-covered oaks, have just gotten notice that they're about to be evicted.

"We're not bothering anybody," Michael Downs said. "And the doctors told me I can't take no more stress."

These days, even the woods are no haven for the homeless.

Orlando police officers, who first handed out trespass warnings in mid-April, said the crackdown stems from a nearby neighborhood group that "bombarded" police with complaints about registered sex offenders living in the woods.

"There were probably two or three out there, but even one is too many," Orlando police Lt. Robert Anzueto said. "There's no way to regulate them if they're in the woods. . . . And there is trash and debris all over the place. If I were a neighbor, I would be concerned."
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