ST. LOUIS – FOX 2 News has obtained video Thursday showing the dramatic ending of a sad squatting saga in south St. Louis.

Sudanese refugees had been living in front of someone’s home at Spring Avenue and Chippewa Street for more than three years.

The City of St. Louis removed their large shelter made from tarps and grocery carts.
The difference at the busy intersection is startling.

A resident says the Sudanese couple has lived in the shelter, covering the sidewalk and part of Spring, since September 2020, for more than 1,300 days. The demolition and cleanup took about 40 minutes as a bulldozer dismantled and dumped the shelter and its contents into a city dump truck.

“The structure has gotten bigger over the years. It’s covering the sidewalk and encroaching on the street, which is a huge health and safety issue, not only for the people inside the structure but also the people that would use the sidewalk,” John McLaughlin, of the City of St. Louis Building Division’s Problem Properties Unite, said. “We had to take action.”

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A team of social and mental health workers, along with interpreters, were the first to arrive. It took about 25 minutes for them, the police, and firefighters to get the couple to leave.

The City of St. Louis and the International Institute have been reaching out to the couple for years.

The man and woman had been squatting at the Spring and Chippewa location and elsewhere in the neighborhood for more than a decade, authorities said. They had gone through the refugee settlement process more than 12 years ago, according to the International Institute. They’d refused offers of social services, including housing.

“I felt sorry for them,” said Lucille Bardo, who operates a neighboring resale shop. “I feel good now that they do have some place to go. They say they’ve put them in a better place to be.”

“We are really concerned about their health and safety,” McLaughlin said.

Two nearby residents are suing the City of St. Louis for failing to address the nuisance as required by city ordinance.

“It’s obvious the city did something only because we sued them because the client spent three years asking for the city’s help and they did nothing,” said Bevis Schock, the attorney for the plaintiffs.

He shared the concerns for the Sudanese couple but said having two people living in squalor and encroaching on sidewalks and car traffic for years was too much to ask of area homeowners and drivers, too, considering the available resources.

City officials deny the allegation that they’ve done nothing and say health care, housing services, and more await the couple.

The hope is that they will come to understand that this is no way to live.

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