Police say they’ve made several arrests at a homeless encampment along the Schuylkill River in Palo Alto.
Saint Clair officers say they responded to trespassing complaints this month from one of the property owners – Tayeb Roumila, who owns the property which is likely being used to access the camps from Pottsville – where a large dumping ground near the encampment was discovered by a local resident, who posted videos of that site on social media.
As a result of those complaints, two men are facing drug and trespassing charges and one woman is facing a trespassing charge.
Roumila contacted Saint Clair police on April 2 to report people were camping and littering on his land. Roumila authorized officers to enter the property, which is marked with “Private Property” and “No Trespassing” signs, to remove any trespassers. Saint Clair provides police protection to Palo Alto.
The first incident occurred on April 4 at about 5 p.m. Saint Clair Police Officer Vincent Bennett was patrolling the property behind the intersection of W. Bacon and Collins streets when he encountered Raymond Gregory II, 36, of Pottsville near a tent site.
Police say Gregory pointed to a trail and a private property sign, stating, “I came through the front.” Gregory also acknowledged he was aware that a woman with him, Lilliana Fowler, who is identified as homeless, had been previously told to stay off the property on April 2.
After Gregory consented to a search of his pockets by telling the officer to “go for it,” police reported finding a hypodermic needle and a clear glassine bag containing approximately 0.7 grams of a white crystallized substance in his left pants pocket. Police say when asked about the suspected methamphetamine, Gregory stated “that he will never quit doing drugs because it makes him happy.”
Gregory was released and advised he would receive charges in the mail, police say. The substance seized from Gregory is being sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Laboratory for testing.
In the meantime, Roumila began a clean-up effort of his property. Numerous bags were stuffed with garbage from the area. But due to it being Easter weekend, there was an issue with removing the garbage bags from the site. Five days later, on April 9, he again contacted police, saying he found garbage bags cut open on his property.
At about 8 p.m., officers approached an access point to the property near 300 Schuylkill Medical Plaza and encountered Marshall Barker, 31, of Saint Clair, walking out, police say. Barker allegedly told officers he was walking out to a camp to try and “see his friend.”
A records check through the Schuylkill County Communications Center revealed Barker had an active arrest warrant out of Pottsville.
During a search incident to his arrest, officers found a small clear plastic bag containing a crystal-like substance in Barker’s front left pants pocket, along with a glass smoking pipe with burn marks in his sweatshirt, police say. Two broken glass smoking pipes were also found in an unlocked storage container inside Barker’s backpack.
Police say the substance found on Barker field-tested positive for methamphetamine. Custody of Barker was subsequently transferred to the Pottsville Bureau of Police.
Gregory, Barker, and Fowler have all been charged with defiant trespass. Gregery and Barker are also facing charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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