HIDDEN HOMELESS: Too Close For Comfort

(Part of an Ongoing Series)

Pointing to a row of palm fronds carefully placed around the remnants of what appears to be a makeshift camp, Palisadian Brian Deming cautions to keep a close watch on the surrounding landscape.

“They could be anywhere,” Deming said. “You have to look at things with a different set of eyes to see them.”

Deliberately walking deeper into the former Bernheimer property off of Sunset Boulevard at Marquez Place, Deming spots another camouflaged encampment just a few feet from where the pavement ends on Marquez Place.

The small cul-de-sac separates most of the Bernheimer property from the Pacific Garden Apartments where Deming lives.

Formerly the Japanese-style garden home of Adolph Bernheimer, a prosperous silk importer, the property has been vacant since the mid-1940s after a landslide weakened the bluff below the parcel.

A Troublesome Lot

Deming said the property has attracted vandals for years but the situation has gotten gradually worse as confrontations between transients and nearby neighbors have escalated.

“There have been dozens of homeless living here,” Deming said. “There are children living in this building; parents are scared.”

He described one incident about three weeks ago when a man was pacing around the traffic light at Marquez Place and Sunset, and screaming profanities at nearby neighbors between bouts of groaning like a “zombie.”

“They come here throughout the night and often make campfires,” he said. “The property is alive – people live here.”

Owned by the Palisades Bay Club, an entity that represents a group of investors that has no relation to the Bel-Air Bay Club, the property’s zoning allows for residential or condominium uses.

But because of the area’s troublesome geology, battles over viewsheds and neighborhood concerns over everything from traffic to home prices, nothing has been built on the parcel.

Return to Tent City

Deming said that in the ’70s and ’80s, the property was known as ‘Tent City’ because of the number of transients camping on the lot, but that changed. However, things are regressing again, he added.

Holding a map he made of more than nine encampment locations on the property, Deming moves down the hill and closer to the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Through an outcropping of sumac and oak, Deming points to an object wrapped in a tarp suspended with a rope from a tree.

“There is probably food in there,” Deming said. “They hang it up, so animals don’t get to it.”

As Deming moves farther away from the street, more trash and encampments come into view. Some have makeshift tents made of tarps, others have incorporated remnants of the Bernheimer gardens into their primitive structures.

“We have found everything down here,” Deming said. “They even keep their pee in bottles. They use it to keep the deer away from their camps.”

Too Close for Comfort

Besides the trash and general nuisance, Deming said there has been an increasing escalation of crime and violence because of the transients next door.

He recalls one incident when one individual brandished a sword at some of his neighbors, and another when a woman threatened him with a bow.

But the most shocking was the kidnapping, home invasion and carjacking spree that occurred on Aug. 11 that left three people with minor injuries.

Brian Thomas Cruz, 44, described as a transient, is accused of breaking into the Pacific Garden Apartments, kidnapping a woman and forcing her into her car at blade point, leading to a rampage that ended in Malibu.

Cruz, a registered sex offender, who had been released from prison in January after serving more than 10 years for rape and home invasion robbery, kidnapped a woman and committed two home invasion robberies during the ordeal, according to police.

He is charged with 19 criminal counts, including assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and carjacking among other crimes, stemming from the incident.

Standing by the balcony of Cruz’s first victim, Deming points to another encampment, directly under one victim’s patio, which is only about eight feet off the ground.

“He could have been sleeping there the whole time,” Deming said of Cruz.

While Cruz’s court records indicate he may have been on probation, the Los Angeles County Probation Department would neither confirm nor deny his probationer status.

“Probation is bound by confidentiality laws such as HIPAA and CORI that protect medical records and hence the entire probationer file,” Carol Lin of the Los Angeles County Probation Department said in an email.

The only exception in terms of releasing information is when there is an active bench warrant, and the subject is a fugitive and imminent threat to public safety, she said.

However, several reliable sources told the Palisadian-Post Cruz was on probation and was wearing an electronic ankle bracelet, used to monitor probationers, when the crimes occurred.

Deming fears the influx of transients to the area will create more scenarios where his neighbors could fall victim to violence, he said.

“We’ve called the police and the fire department, but they can’t do anything,” he said. “They won’t do anything until a crime is committed. They’re scared too.”

The Palisadian-Post will be working with local residents, groups and public officials to help identify and address the issue of homelessness in our community. Look for the next installment of our series “Palisades Hidden Homeless” next week.  

To get involved email News Editor Reza Gostar at reza@palipost.com.