Leesburg police raided a homeless encampment arresting five people who had been previously ordered to vacate the premises.
The police had been contacted by an investment firm regarding homeless people living on their lots. The properties are located on Michigan Avenue, Picciola Road and Park Holland Road. The six lots border each other and are heavily wooded. The officers made contact with eight people on the property on Saturday and served them with written trespass notices. Officer said they would be back on Sunday and that if they were still on the property they would be arrested.
Several Leesburg offices began checking the property at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. They found 42-year-old April Lynn Smith and 35-year-old Jesse Jester sleeping in a tent. Both were arrested for trespass as they had received notice the day before. The officers then located 30-year-old Matthew Pasco in the front of a camper trailer. Pasco, who had received the trespass notice the day before, exited the camper when directed to do so and was placed under arrest. The other two people in the camper, 21-year-old Briar Michael Davis and 29-year-old Kylie Evelyn Rae Mertz refused to come out. When the two finally emerged from the camper they were charged with resisting arrest without violence and trespass.
After processing at the Leesburg Police Department the five were taken to the Lake County Jail where bond on those who complied with the officers directions had their bond set at $1,000. Bond for Mertz and Davis was set at $2,000. Mertz posted her bond.
