Police raid Granada Hills junk pile in search of stolen goods, detain several people

The Los Angeles Police Department conducted a sweep operation Thursday at a homeless encampment in the Granada Hills area.

According to LAPD, officers came to the encampment to serve a search warrant for stolen goods but were not sure what they would find other than a rare collector's item spotted by a viewer in previous coverage by CBSLA's Kristine Lazar.

A judge granted the search warrant after the viewer spotted a stolen van, which was reportedly a rare collector's item. The viewer said that the van would not be up there on its own. 

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Multiple people have been detained and questioned, however, no one has been arrested yet. According to the company that owns the property, police found a stolen trailer and a dirt bike during their search. 

"Our efforts now are in cleaning it all out taking all the property that doesn't belong to us," said Stephen Tobias, who works for the property owner.

The vacant lot turned homeless encampment and junk pile has been an issue for nearby residents.

 "It's a blessing in disguise the police came and clean up our yard for us," said Tobias. "It's good. We couldn't do it otherwise." 

Tobias works for Land Development Incorporated, which has been cited with multiple violations. He said that this whole ordeal began two years ago when a home development project stopped because of the Aliso Canyon gas leak. 

"Over a couple of days, it had gotten broken into, vandalized the construction equipment," said Tobias. "We put someone up there to watch it and that person brought all his friends...It led to something that got out of control. 

Nearby residents said out of control was an understatement, as they saw vans on the property hanging from the hillside.

"With the pandemic and stuff people are homeless and our hands are tied," said Tobias. "You can't evict someone like you used to be able to."

While the nearby residents said that the company should have done more, they are glad that police have taken this step and hope this will eventually help them get their neighborhood back.

"We were friendly with them before," said Tobias. "I'm sure they don't like us much now."