Homeless man crashes truck into fence, Colorado Springs neighborhood adds it to list of concerns
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A neighborhood on the east side of Colorado Springs said a homeless man "crossed the line" after crashing a truck he's suspected to be living out of through a homeowner's fence.
Sheryl Ayala said she was watching TV with her husband Wednesday night when she heard a loud noise in her backyard. Next thing she knows neighbors are telling her to come outside. There she finds her fence in pieces and a truck sitting in her backyard.
“We did not see the actual person that ran off after they hit it, but our neighbors did see it,” Ayala said. “They were witnesses and saw a man leave the vehicle and run off.”
She said the truck was left running with the keys still in the ignition, but the person behind the wheel was gone. However, Ayala and her neighbors have a suspicion of who it was. The truck stands out — the bed is covered with a green tarp and filled with a bunch of miscellaneous items, from bikes to old car wheels.
“This truck has been parked up the street,” Ayala said. “We've seen it for the past week sitting there.”
Residents told 13 Investigates three to five vehicles are parked along the street outside the neighborhood nearly every day. They said homeless people use it as a place to live or even as “mobile storage.”
“Me, along with many of my neighbors, have called the police and have reported homeless people that are just sitting on the street,” Ayala said.
Ben Suleski, a neighborhood resident, said he saw a group of homeless people Wednesday afternoon struggling to start the truck.
“They were becoming very agitated and angry when they couldn't get this truck properly running and they started cursing and just getting upset,” he said.
Later that night, the truck crashed through the fence. Residents still aren’t sure if it was by accident or intentional, but they are upset the Colorado Springs Police Department never responded to multiple 911 calls.
“We've lived here about nine years and never had any kind of incident here,” Ayala said. “It's surprising to us, but more surprising is that nobody has come out to do anything about it.”
CSPD said it received multiple calls around 7 p.m. but it didn’t have the officers to respond to the call. Since no one was injured or in danger, it became a low priority.
“Here we are at midnight and the police have not responded, so now we're going on five hours of no response from the police,” Suleski explained.
Officers eventually ended up responding at 6 a.m. Thursday and towed the truck. So far, no arrests have been made, according to CSPD.
Residents said the truck is part of a growing homeless population near the neighborhood.
“They typically like to sit on that curve up there by the empty lot, which is understandable,” Suleski said. “But then sometimes people like to park literally where we're standing right here or right there where that vehicle is along the fence. They just get super close.”
Suleski said the growing homeless population outside the neighborhood has been an ongoing problem.
“Everybody's been through something, but when they camp out for two or three months, they end up getting the attention of so many residents around here,” he said.
The 911 calls for the truck weren’t the first calls made regarding the homeless population near the neighborhood. CSPD said it has responded to several abandoned and suspicious vehicles in the area of the crash.
Suleski said when the homeless people are asked to move they leave for a couple of weeks or months but eventually return. He said it’s a safety concern for the neighborhood.
“I don't feel comfortable with people who sit on the curve of this road being a threat to my wife and kids, because clearly, if they're crazy enough to do something like this,” Suleski said.
The Colorado Springs Police Department said abandoned vehicles should be reported to neighborhood services while the agency still handles homeless encampment complaints. The department said both can be reported through the GoCOS app.
