Police warn people to stay away from fallen homes in Draper

DRAPER, Utah — The Draper City Police Department warns people to avoid visiting the homes affected by Saturday’s landslide or face the consequences.

“They’ve been trespassing through the signs and into what we would consider a danger zone,” explained Chief Rich Ferguson, Draper City Police Chief.

Draper PD is warning those curious about the sliding homes on Springtime Road in Suncrest to stay out of the area and off private property. They received several reports of people sneaking into homeowners’ backyards to take pictures and videos of the damaged homes.

“These people have gone through an awful lot. This is an overwhelming experience for them, and so respecting their privacy, respecting their property means everything right now,” Ferguson said.

The police chief also said their department has also received complaints of people sneaking up to the debris field in the canyon below the homes and stealing the debris on Ann’s Trail.

“It’s somebody’s private property still, no matter what condition it’s in,” Ferguson explained.

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Draper City officials have fenced off the two destroyed homes and two neighboring houses that have now been condemned.

On Monday, the city added additional signage about trespassing and informed homeowners that they would be extending the roadblock to both ends of the street and issuing citations to those caught trespassing.

“They’ll receive a trespassing citation if they go between the fences, and of course, if they’re stealing people’s private property, we’ll deal with it that way,” Ferguson said.

The city closed the trails below the fallen homes, and officers will now remain on site 24-7 to keep trespassers out.

“It’s clearly fenced, it’s clearly signed, no trespassing, do not go into this area, it’s a danger area,” Ferguson warned