A trail of stolen goods led police right to an impromptu campsite on the corner of Government and Bay streets on Friday morning.
“It’s a camp that’s been moving around the last few days, around this area,” said Victoria police Sgt. Barrie Cockle.
A man and a woman were the main occupants.
“These people have several shopping carts, just between the two of them,” Cockle said.
He said police were called to the area about 7:45 a.m. by a man who had lost property, mostly tools, in a theft from a nearby commercial vehicle.
The man had begun looking around on his own.
“We actually bumped into a guy in the street who was carrying around some of the tools from that vehicle,” Cockle said.
That led officers to some nearby bushes, where they found more stolen items, and the search continued from there.
“It was kind of a trail of bread crumbs,” Cockle said. “I came around the corner to the camp and found a whole bunch more of the property.”
Four people were arrested. Two are immediately facing charges of possession of stolen property under $5,000.
The case is being handled by the police department’s focused enforcement team, whose duties include dealing with poverty and homelessness in the downtown core.
Cockle said team members worked with the people at the camp to help them sort through everything spread around the site.
Since it was on city property, a city crew arrived to haul away items in and around the shopping carts.
Cockle said the focused enforcement team follows some basic rules.
“We never take away bedding or tents or food. We never want to take away what they need to live on the street.”
Camping on sidewalks is not allowed, but people can be in parks from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., Cockle said.
