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Guy builds plywood home in CA animal sanctuary alongside his 8 MJ plants!

LiLWaynE

I Feel Good
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house-jpg_202012.jpg



http://news.yahoo.com/camouflaged-r...rnia-park-161429318--abc-news-topstories.html

not sure if anybody else posted this story..... didnt see it in tokers den, so decided to post it!

An elaborate and illegal camouflaged residence, outfitted with bunk beds and a barbecue patio, has been discovered near a Los Angeles County animal refuge.
Eight months ago, Robert Downs, 51, set up a small structure in the woods near the Tujunga Ponds Wildlife Sanctuary in Sunland, Calif. To hide his home from police, Downs, who was previously homeless, sprayed it with camouflage paint and cut down nearby trees, said Johnie Jones, a deputy in the Parks Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The structure, which Downs built with materials he bought at Home Depot, contained four bunk beds built into the walls, tables, shelves and fire extinguishers. Outside were a rock patio, a barbecue grill and more tables. An American flag was draped over Downs' bed.
Downs stood a chance of evading major legal trouble for his hidden house, but sheriff's deputies also discovered that he cultivated eight marijuana plants outside the structure, a felony because he did not have a permit to do so, Jones said.
When Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies found Downs's residence while on patrol Monday, he told them he had been living in the 13.5-acre wildlife sanctuary for more than a year, Jones said.
"He seems like he had some skills," Jones said. "I've seen homeless sweeps before where people have brought tents or mattresses, but nothing this elaborate."
Downs was arrested on charges of marijuana cultivation and building a house on county property, Jones said. He is being held on a $30,000 bond, Jones said.
Downs was found with two others who were cited with infractions and then released, Jones said.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works will remove the structure from the park over the next two weeks.
 

LiLWaynE

I Feel Good
ICMag Donor
Veteran
hey man, he got a good 8 months out of it! thats one hell of a run! and im willing to bet that he wasn't homeless, and was just looking to have a good time living in the woods (and growing weed!) and just failed to realize that the woods he decided to call home just so happened to be county property...... ooops


hell im willing to bet the guy has a thread here on icmag!
 
I

Iron_Lion

Too bad you can't just pick a piece of land and live on it, the guvmint always wants taxes, can't live free anywhere.

The funny thing is, they would prefer you live under a bridge or on a park bench right in the public eye.

I would never want to live homeless in the city, but way out in the country doesn't seem so bad. Usually when they catch someone like this they make them out to be a weirdo, I bet you live a much better quality of life being homeless out in the wilderness then you would in the dirty city. Eat out of a dumpster or catch some fresh fish, that's a tough one.

It looks like this guy was living pretty good with not much.
 
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HOPS5K

Lover of Life
Veteran
yup..that's fucked up in so many ways..dude was just chillin livin' life and not hurting anyone.

whatever happened to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

I think this guy had a great idea but got tripped up on some technicality about county land or whatever...fuck that shit!
 

Snoopster

Active member
Veteran
They are probably concerned with waste and such.
He was living in a wildlife preserve.
I've seen homeless camps that were disgusting, shit, piss, vomit(?), trash, empties...
If he really wanted to get away, there is a lot of wilderness where he could be left alone.

I live near a wildlife preserve, not in one. If some guy set up camp in the wildlife preserve near my house, he would get evicted, but not by the cops.
 

HempKat

Just A Simple Old Dirt Farmer
Veteran
Too bad you can't just pick a piece of land and live on it, the guvmint always wants taxes, can't live free anywhere.

The funny thing is, they would prefer you live under a bridge or on a park bench right in the public eye.

I would never want to live homeless in the city, but way out in the country doesn't seem so bad. Usually when they catch someone like this they make them out to be a weirdo, I bet you live a much better quality of life being homeless out in the wilderness then you would in the dirty city. Eat out of a dumpster or catch some fresh fish, that's a tough one.

It looks like this guy was living pretty good with not much.

You don't necessarily have to go too far out. I had a friend that was homeless. Once he took me to a camp he had lived in for a year and other people were there and had been there for a good but unknown bit of time before that. It was located in a dense cluster of trees circled by an exit ramp for the town it was near. It finally got busted up though when someone in there let a campfire get out of control. Then my friend found another one in a section of woods dividing two neighborhoods, the terrain best positioned to get to it was so rough that only people going to that camp were interested in crossing it. Yet it was just a five minute walk from a small shopping center with a grocery store, a laundry mat and a beer store (pretty much everything the people in the camp needed). That was more then 10 years ago and as far as I know people still live there in tents and handmade shacks.
 

HOPS5K

Lover of Life
Veteran
so, you can just go into the forest, woods, public land and just camp..for a period of time? Isn't there some sort of squatting rules or laws?

I know I sound naive as hell, but, I always assumed that there was some sort of 2 week time limit for camping and the such in forests and stuff..like, you can't be in the same place for more than 15 days or so..is this everywhere?
 

Hammerhead

Disabled Farmer
ICMag Donor
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When I was young we had many overgrown areas that we made into places we could party and not get noticed. All where very close to stores. The city found some and went on a search and destroy campaign. All of the overgrown areas where cleared out. Now if I want to be left alone I need to move to Alaska.
 

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
My hometown's population is ~800k. In the mid 80s it was at least half a million. On my side of town, there was ONE homeless person walking the streets between the store and his crib in the woods. Prostitutes walked the same streets but few wondered aloud whether they were homeless. Even the name "homeless" more often referred to temporary upheaval than lifestyle.

Some people referred to him as Paw and others Aqualung. Never knew his given name. He was found dead in the late 80s, hanging by a rope outside his makeshift camp. Was like losing a friend because he was the only homeless person we knew of.

On occasion he'd acknowledge passers by with a slightly raised hand but never smiled or even turned his head. I recon there wasn't a whole lot to smile about.

That same city now has homeless folks living under 1 of every 3 or 4 bridges in town. It's kinda like Hempy mentioned, within walking distance to the sto.
 
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Slim Pickens

Well-known member
Veteran
happened to be county property......

Not to mock or offend you in any way,but....

How the heck can any property belong to a government entity?Yes,it can be under their management,but what gives them license to call it theirs?I have a real problem with government agencies and the like acting like they own everything.

End of rant...carry on...

:biggrin:
 

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
Not to mock or offend you in any way,but....

How the heck can any property belong to a government entity?Yes,it can be under their management,but what gives them license to call it theirs?I have a real problem with government agencies and the like acting like they own everything.

End of rant...carry on...

:biggrin:

Let's see. It ain't eminent domain. That's when they decide to buy/take what we once owned.

Manifest Destiny?
redface.gif
j/k :dunno:
 

LiLWaynE

I Feel Good
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Not to mock or offend you in any way,but....

How the heck can any property belong to a government entity?Yes,it can be under their management,but what gives them license to call it theirs?I have a real problem with government agencies and the like acting like they own everything.

End of rant...carry on...

:biggrin:


YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE... I AM OFFENDED THAT YOU WOULD SAY SUCH A THING :biglaugh:
 

yesum

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
He was 'tier 1' of the homeless. Most homeless are pretty jacked up mentally but from what I read this guy was together.

Too bad he gets lumped together with those that cause problems. The pot growing is another non crime. Sad
 

Infinitesimal

my strength is a number, and my soul lies in every
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Not to mock or offend you in any way,but....

How the heck can any property belong to a government entity?Yes,it can be under their management,but what gives them license to call it theirs?I have a real problem with government agencies and the like acting like they own everything.

End of rant...carry on...

:biggrin:

especially when the govt is of the people for the people by the people, and is all paid for by taxation of the peoples labor, in conclusion... that shit is ours not any govt entity's "this land is your land, this land is my land... this land was made for you and me" there you go I went back to 2nd grade there for you guys... we were taught this lesson
 

Iraganji

Member
Now we come to Woody Guthrie who wrote that song. Talk about a dude I wish I could hobo across the country with. (in his time of course)

As legend has it, Guthrie wrote the song in response to the hugely popular Irving Berlin song, "God Bless America." He was so tired of hearing the song on the radio and the blatant jingoism it promoted. Guthrie had seen much of America by this time, had experienced the Dust Bowl exodus of the 1930s and the racism and classism that followed emigrant workers and the blue collar working boys around, as they searched for work during the Great Depression.

With all of that in mind, Woody Guthrie wrote a new song of patriotism, with the refrain line, "God blessed America for me."

The song includes rather poignant lyrics that were considered subversive in their time. Lyrics to the song tackle the definition of liberty, individual rights and property ownership.
 

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