Squatters have taken over a Wyoming city after some left millions of dollars worth of damage to a motel and others left 500lbs of feces in the downtown area.
Casper, the second-largest city in the state, is home to 60,000 residents but now also has about 200 homeless people.
Some have seized various properties that are empty or abandoned, including an abandoned Econo Lodge motel that hasn’t operated since November.
Casper Mayor Bruce Knell described the extent of destruction as akin to ‘third-world-country stuff’.
One of the squatters is seen in the boiler room of the motel which had already been flooded
A group of 200 homeless people in Wyoming have caused millions of dollars of damage upon a local motel in downtown Casper
Aside from the mess, the squatters also left 500lbs of human waste strewn about the property
The squatters broke into the abandoned Econo Lodge that had already been closed due to flooding
‘It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s third-world-country stuff happening in Casper, Wyoming,’ he told Cowboy State Daily. ‘They destroyed everything. It’s horrible.’
The motel which had about 300 rooms was already closed due to flooding, was taken over by squatters, who have now rendered it both uninhabitable and hazardous.
The flooding was initially caused last winter after water lines froze and burst, flooding one floor and submerging the electrical switch panel.
Casper’s Mayor, Bruce Knell, pictured, characterized the level of destruction as unparalleled and likened it to conditions typically seen in third-world countries
That alone caused millions in damage but the squatters have only served to make matters worse.
After the property was foreclosed by the bank, the building was secured and boarded up.
But the homeless group broke inside and have now left hundreds of pounds of human feces which the city has to deal with as part of a cleanup.
‘They have destroyed this business,’ Knell said to Oil City News. ‘It broke my heart to see,’ noting how he saw drug paraphernalia and the wanton destruction of furnishings.
‘You cannot wrap your head around what happened to that hotel,’ he said.
City officials admit they have run out of ideas with how to effectively deal with the growing numbers of vagrants and note that fines and arrests do not seem to be working when it comes to sorting out the problem.
‘We know very well we cannot litigate our way or arrest our way out of the problem, but our police need some teeth to start dealing with the squatting,’ Mayor Knell said. ‘They’re just causing so many problems.’
‘In desperate times people do desperate things, and unfortunately we’re the ones left having to deal with it,’ he continued.
The motel, previously closed due to flooding, was overtaken by squatters who have since rendered it unfit for habitation and hazardous
The property had been boarded up and abandoned following flooding that had occurred
Homelessness has become a huge problem in Casper with about 200 squatting in a city of 60,000 people
The city council is now considering implementing a new code that would require squatters to obtain written consent from property owners and set limits on how long they can could camp on private property.
The city’s mayor has suggested that while homelessness is a complex issue to deal with, many of those who find themselves in such a position are also struggling with substance abuse or mental illness and make a point of refusing to conform to society’s rules and laws.
It means they are unable to access shelters, leading them instead to roam the community and engage in further antisocial behavior.
‘There’s a certain part of the homeless population, whether substance abuse or mental illness, that is getting them to where they don’t want to conform to society’s rules,’ Knell said.
‘When they do that, they’re not allowed to go in the shelter, which means they’re just out and about in our community raising hell.’