SANTA CRUZ, Calif- Santa Cruz law enforcement officials cleared out the Occupy Santa Cruz Camp Thursday morning. About 100 officers coming from every law enforcement agency in Santa Cruz County descended on the camp and gave protesters five minutes to leave.
Sometime after 7 am @OccupySantaCruz tweeted "Riot police surrounding #OccupySantaCruz camp! We're not rioting, we're trying to sleep." Most protesters left voluntarily but deputies say that six people were arrested.
Everyone that was arrested is facing $25,000 in bail except Patrick Wilhelmy, who faces a $50,000 bail amount, said police. Most of the arrests were for obstruction or delaying officers while in their duties. Gabriella Ripley Phipps, who was the media liaison/spokesperson for the 75 River Street takeover, was also arrested for obstructing officers.
The deadline for protestors to leave was Wednesday at 5 PM. On Wednesday night, there were about 30 tents up at San Lorenzo Park in Santa Cruz despite an evacuation notice from police.
"We aren't going to allow this group of individuals to dictate our timeline or our tactics, we are going to set our own strategy or own timeline and address this issue when we feel it's appropriate to do so and we have the tactical advantage," says Santa Cruz Police Deputy Chief Steve Clark.
Clark said that's why Wednesday's deadline came and went without police raiding San Lorenzo Park to arrest Occupy protestors.
Thursday morning officers surrounded the park to make sure that nobody could get back inside while crews were working to clean up. According to police, 8 tons of trash was taken from the encampment and at least $5,000 in damage was done to the benchlands.
The city estimates that the cost to clean the encampment range from $15,000-2$0,000.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Santa Cruz Police Department Investigations at (831) 420-5820 or leave an anonymous tip at www.santacruzpolice.com or via the department's mobile app.
Arrested: Christina Foster
Arrested: Alfonso Martinez
Arrested: Gabriella Ripley Phipps
