CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. - The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office reports four more abandoned vagrant/homeless camps were cleaned up last Saturday removing 11,000 pounds of trash and garbage. The camps were in the same area off U.S. 41 in northeast Port Charlotte where 25,000 pounds of trash were also picked up Aug. 21 by inmates of the Charlotte County Jail.

CCSO Environmental Detective Billie Hatmaker said the 60 cubic yards of items removed were in wooded areas around Sinatra, Luscar, Alonso avenues and Starborn St. Det. Hatmaker said, “Six area residents stopped by and thanked us for our efforts.” There were 14 supervised trustee inmates dragging and putting trash in a front end loader that was used to put the trash into two large dumpsters. Det. Hatmaker says there are still 10 to 12 additional camps in this area that future clean ups are being planned. Det. Hatmaker said besides the inmates, participating were County Jail officers, a County Code Officer, a Community Policing Officer, and two from the County Solid Waste Department.