Former Felons Forced To Move From Under Bridge
Group Packs Up, Creates Camp At Edge Of Everglades
http://www.local10.com/news/15107218/detail.htmlBROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A group of registered sex offenders and convicted felons who were told by the Department of Corrections to live under a bridge in Fort Lauderdale have been chased away by neighbors, police and the Department of Transportation.
Trespassing" signs underneath the Oakland Park Boulevard Bridge over the intracoastal and told the former felons that if they didn't leave they'd be arrested. The group packed up their things and headed west.
They set up a camp on the edge of the Everglades, far away from schools, parks and civilization.
They have a tent, battery-operated television and DVD player, a portable cooking stove and a beat-up rusty grill.
"Hopefully nobody's going to complain about it and we can be left alone for a while," said Mark DaCosta, an ex-convict who is not a sex offender but was ordered to live by the same rules as a condition of his parole.
The Department of Corrections had the men reporting to the bridge every night because they couldn’t find a place for them to live that wasn't too close to school or park. State law prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of anyplace children congregate. The problem is that nearly every city in South Florida has its own laws that push the sex offenders and ex-convicts back even farther , Local 10's Roger reported. In most cases, the local ordinance is 2,500 feet.