Police Clean Up So-Called Homeless Camp After Alleged Murder

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — “It’s off the path, several yards into the woods,” says Deputy Chief Ruben Santiago with the Columbia Police Department. Back behind the woods of South East Park just off Garners Ferry Road in Columbia, police say they found what they call a homeless camp. Tentes, grocery carts even personal items were all hidden in the woods. “Most people wouldn’t venture into those areas, because they just aren’t common areas,” says Santiago Crandall Sims reporting,”In fact a murder is what led police to the campsite. Just this past weekend, police say a couple was walking here in the park when they saw a man’s body in a pond. According to the coroner the man died of injuries to the head and neck from an assault. But the discovery of that murder was only the beginning.” “Upon further investigation we found there was a homeless camp real close by,” says Santiago. The camp was not new, according to police. “The evidence left behind, just the materials, the trash, the litter you could tell it’s been used for a very long time,” says Santiago. Camps like this are illegal in Columbia. “We do have an ordinance in the City of Columbia against urban camping and we make sure we go and do the clean-ups,” says Santiago Wednesday, that’s exactly what Columbia Police and public works employees were doing, cleaning up and moving the camp, out. However, this isn’t the first and police say it probably will not be the last. “When you think about Columbia’s homeless situation that we have, they’re really in transition and so we might go in and clear up one homeless camp and then they’ll move to another location,” says Santiago. But they don’t just clear out the camps, police say they also work with the homeless to try and find them help through area shelters and other programs. As for the campsite, once the clean up is over and the area is declared safe, police say they hope those who enjoy this park will continue to do so. “A safe and happy environment that’s going to be of future use for generations to come,” says Santiago. So far, two men have been charged in connection with the death; neither of them have been charged with murder.