More than a dozen people were arrested after they were found squatting in a county-owned Florida motel where officials found ‘atrocious scenes’ of damage.

The group had scaled a 10-foot chain-link fence and wrenched boards off windows to secure access to the former Budget Inn on SW 13th Street in Gainesville – that was being converted to a homeless shelter. 

Utility workers who arrived to service meters tipped off Alachua County authorities after finding most of the devices had been stolen by people who had set up home there, alongside ‘significant’ damage to the motel.

Deputies were sent in and arrested 19 people who have been charged with causing damage to the building, engaging in drug activity, and stealing electricity.

‘It was just a really atrocious scene that we found,’ county spokesperson Mark Sexton said .

More than a dozen people were arrested after they were found squatting in a county-owned Florida motel where officials found ‘atrocious scenes’ of damage

Riche Ghirawoo and Maria Wilkerson were among the 11 men and eight women seized by police at the site and charged with offences including criminal damage, engaging in drug activity, and stealing electricity

Jonnita George and Darrell Shock

‘There were a lot of people there, a lot of damage to the facilities. They had broken into the utilities,’ Sexton said. 

‘There was an enormous amount of drug paraphernalia and alcohol.’

‘No Trespassing’ signs had been placed on site and the door of each unit had been secured with door locks and master locks before they were torn off.

‘All of these preventive measures were defeated by forced entry by the trespassing persons,’ Alachua County Sheriff’s Office report said.

Deputies spent three hours clearing all 36 rooms, some of which were barricaded from the inside, after they were called to the site on Thursday morning.

Two people were caught after running off and a minor was found living there without any legal guardian.

Several of those arrested had outstanding warrants, with some facing charges of resisting without violence, drug possession, and providing false identification information to the initial trespassing charges.

Michael Wright and Darius Toliver 

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Amelia Close and Xavier Fayson 

Derickj Sawyer and Christianna Thomas 

A 10-foot chain-link fence multiple locks and No Trespassing signs served as no deterrent

Lacy Morelock and Demetrius Mercer

Destiny Crowley and Riham Ramadan 

Jerome Mitchell and Donovan Grimes

Florida has the third highest number of homeless people in the country with more than 27,000 known to be without shelter in a state where house prices have surged 55 percent since the pandemic.

Earlier this month, residents in Pensacola complained about an ‘invasion’ of squatters and homeless people who have left the town ‘dangerous’ and ‘unhealthy’ with huge piles of trash and open-air bathrooms.

Police in Alachua County had already been called to the motel site more than 30 times this year but this is the first time charges have been pressed by the exasperated county that bought the building for $2 million in 2020.

Police were also at the site in February, when five people were suspected of breaking into eight units, causing water damage, broken doors and windows.

Alachua County’s Mark Sexton said ‘we can’t afford any more damage to this place’

Repairs are underway to the former squat and the county said a security guard has been hired 

Three people were trespassed in that case while two others were arrested, one on an out-of-county warrant and the other for drug possession, Gainesville.com reported.

The county has applied for another $3million in funding to renovate it as accommodation for homeless people with efficiency apartments and onsite services.

‘While we’re going through the process with the state we can’t afford any more damage to this place because the more damage there is, the more this renovation is going to cost,’ Sexton said.

‘In general, we don’t feel like the best way to handle the homeless is putting them in jail, where they won’t get the help they need, but this was a really egregious situation with thousands of dollars in damage and unsanitary conditions.’