L.A. County raids homeless camp under 10 Freeway

To reach the secret place they call the Cave, its denizens must climb a ladder toward a small, hard-to-notice opening in the tall concrete slab that helps hold up the 10 Freeway. They must squeeze beneath a rusty metal grating, balance on a ledge and descend a second ladder into thick, dead air and darkness. This is home, a vast, vault-like netherworld, strewn with garbage and syringes.

Richard Dafoe likes it here, even with 3-foot cobwebs and the constant thrum of freeway traffic overhead. For the decade or so he has lived here, he has found it a reliable sanctuary against daylight, police and other people.

"It's basically a safe place to be because the cops can't get into it," said Dafoe, 56, known as the Wizard for his ample white beard and wild hair. "They're scared."

About the size of two high school gyms placed side by side, the Cave is both an invisible squatter's camp and a shooting gallery for drug users. The California Department of Transportation has tried repeatedly to seal it shut. Police didn't realize people were still living there until March, when a USC journalism student researching homelessness spotted the opening in the underpass near the San Gabriel River in Baldwin Park.

This week, authorities are clearing out the Cave, evicting the few people who live there and trying to close it off for good.

On Wednesday, as a team of deputies and Caltrans workers stood by in protective face masks, a circular saw began cutting away one of the metal doors along the north-facing wall, deemed the safest entrance.

Guns drawn, deputies stepped through the opening into the darkness. Flashlight beams picked up mounds of scrap metal, bicycle parts, knives, syringes and an M-16 ammo clip. They found thick sections of concrete wall had been chiseled away to create little rooms. They found a man sleeping near the rotting carcass of what appeared to be a cat.

Sheriff's Deputy Paul Archambault, who was leading the sweep, found a ladder and climbed up to inspect a series of overhead crawl spaces.

He pointed his flashlight.

"It looks like a baby was living in here. It looks like they had a nursery or something. There's a bunch of rattles and toys and stuff," he said. "I think they put the babies up there to keep them away from the rats."