SANTA CRUZ - Nine weeks after Occupy Santa Cruz protesters set up camp in San Lorenzo Park to protest economic disparity and other social issues, police in riot gear swept through the camp and cleared out the remaining handful of campers just after dawn Thursday.
"It's going to be a pleasure to return this park to the community," said Police Chief Kevin Vogel. "I'm ecstatic about this."
About 90 officers surrounded the park about 7 a.m. Clad in helmets and black riot uniforms, they came from Santa Cruz, Capitola, Scotts Valley, Watsonville, UC Santa Cruz, state parks and the Sheriff's Office. Campers had been warned through the week that the camp would be cleared, and all but a handful had dragged their tents and belongings out of the park.
The loud barking of police dogs punctuated the brisk morning air as police arrested four women and two men. While some of the protesters yelled at police for dismantling the camp, the raid left no one injured.
"I think it's illegal for them to kick us out," said a man who identified himself as Dread-I. He said he'd been there for a month and a half.
"They're not making it better doing this. Now we're going to have to leave here and we're going to have to go down by the dock and the tourist area."
On Oct. 8, Occupy Santa Cruz started protests and marches against what its members called national economic inequality. The group, which also took up other issues such as local homelessness, established a campground in San Lorenzo Park on city property, and steps away a daytime demonstration area on county property along Water Street near an unused entrance to Santa Cruz Superior Court.
By 8 a.m. Thursday at San Lorenzo Park, the campers were gone.
A parks crew had erected a plastic fence around the site and collected 8 tons of garbage, according to police spokesman Zach Friend. Left behind camp were bikes, a hand drum and other items that Friend said could be claimed at the police station.
One of the women arrested - 24-year-old Gabriella Ripley Phipps of Santa Cruz - was identified by police as the media spokeswoman during last week's occupation of the former bank building at 75 River St.
A group splintered from the Occupy Santa Cruz group took over the $3.4 million building Wednesday night, causing $30,000 in damage inside, police said. They left the building Saturday night, hours before a planned police raid.
Thursday morning shortly after the camp was cleared, Ripley Phipps stood in front of a line of officers in riot gear for a few minutes before an officer arrested her.
Police also arrested Alfonso Martinez, 34, a Santa Cruz transient, Patrick Wilhelmy, 23, a Santa Cruz County resident, Amanda Senseman, 22, of Willits, Sherry Lynn Taylor, 44, of Oakland and Christina Foster, 34, a Santa Cruz transient. All were arrested on suspicion of obstructing or delaying police.
They were held in County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail except for Wilhelmy - who also had an outstanding felony warrant and he was held in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to jail records.
Several other arrests have been made in the past week.
About 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, a man and a woman tried to break a window of the County Governmental Center. County spokeswoman Dinah Phillips said a county worker spotted the pair who tried to pry open a window at the Auditor's Office. Several others appeared to be waiting nearby.
County employees confronted the group, took cellphone photos and called 911, Phillips said. A woman threatened to find one employee's vehicle and damage it. No one was injured and no damage to the building was reported.
Deputies also arrested two people Wednesday about 3:30 p.m. after reports of drug dealing between the county building and San Lorenzo Park. Deputies found more than an ounce of marijuana, cash and other evidence of marijuana sales on 26-year-old Melvin Jerimiah Jones, Skalland said. Jones was arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale.
Kriston Joseph Carter, 31, also had a bindle of meth and a meth pipe on him, Skalland said. Carter was arrested on suspicion of possession of meth and drug paraphernalia.
Jones and Carter also were on probation for previous drug charges, Skalland said. Morgan said she brought a pickup to the park recently to help clear trash. She said after police gave notice that they would clear the camp, Occupy members had planned a big cleanup Thursday.
PARK DAMAGE
Some Occupy members said this does not mark the end of the local Occupy movement.
Steve Pleich, who has been involved in the group's legal defense, said city leaders' decision to dismantle the camp was unfortunate.
"We're going to have to regroup and see where we go from here," Pleich said. The general assembly meetings will continue.
"It's unfortunate that the city has decided to take away a place for homeless people," Pleich said of the camp.
Occupy members had planned a rally for noon Thursday at the city's Parks Department Office on Church Street to protest Parks Director Dannettee Shoemaker's role in clearing out the park - yet few protestors showed.
Shoemaker and the parks department were targeted because Shoemaker invoked part of the city code that allowed police to "abate a public nuisance."
"This was a really difficult situation," Shoemaker said of the park's occupation.
"We just had a laundry list of problems with the site," she said. Those problems included garbage, unsanitary food preparation, calls about drug and alcohol use, fights and complaints from other residents whose access to the park was compromised.
She added that protesting was legal from dawn to dusk in the park, but camping is illegal.
Shoemaker said the fence would remain around the former camping area and a damage assessment to the turf and landscaping is in the works. Authorities planned to remain in the park to make sure more tents didn't pop up in the park.
"We'll make sure what we have done stays done," Shoemaker said.
OCCUPY'S FUTURE
Laurie Morgan, an Occupy Santa Cruz supporter who did not camp in the park, watched park workers clear debris and a pile of bicycles.
"The movement isn't going away," said Morgan, a Santa Cruz medical professional.
"I think it was time for the city to keep the camp clean, rather than destroy it," she said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark said they are pursuing arrests in the River Street case on suspicion of felony vandalism and conspiracy. Clark said they identified several people in the building in part because of posted photos of the group on the Internet.
The building is owned by Alliance 1 and Barry Swenson Builder, according to the deed. That partnership leases the building to Wells Fargo, which acts as its property manager and is responsible for the building, said Jesse Nickell III, vice president of construction and development for Barry Swenson Builder.
Nickell toured the building and said the damage was less than he anticipated. Protesters "tagged" an elevator and main partition wall with spray paint, he said.
"They kind of trashed the place but it was definitely not out of control," Nickell said.
Wells Fargo representatives have declined to comment on the building's occupation or damage. Santa Cruz police said Monday they had spent more than $70,000 dealing with the occupation. Police also estimated $15,000-$20,000 in staff costs to clean the camp during the occupation. Damage to the benchlands is estimated at $5,000.
