Anchorage Daily News

Violence erupted this week in one of Anchorage's biggest homeless camps, clusters of tents and tarps in Mountain View known as Veterans' Ridge.

One man was beaten up Wednesday night and sent to the hospital. Three men are now in jail, accused of setting fire to the victim's tent and belongings on Thursday evening. Now police and cleanup crews are preparing to clear the area of illegal campers. Some say they won't go.

"We've already had enough crime in the neighborhood and say it's time to move them on," police Lt. Dave Parker said.

An estimated 30 to 40 tents are scattered in swampy woods just east of Reeve Boulevard near Tyson Elementary School. It's called Veterans' Ridge because so many veterans have come through. The city owns much of the parcel and uses part of it for a snow dump. One man being displaced said he might try to carve out a new home in the mound of dirty snow, which never melted over the summer.

The incident happened just as the city is turning its attention to the problem of homeless alcoholics. They camp from Oceanview to downtown along greenbelts, in city parks, in little patches of woods. Just last week, one of the men now accused of arson spoke about life in the camps to city officials and others touring Veterans' Ridge.

Thirteen of Anchorage's homeless died outdoors this year, most of them during the warm spring and summer, most of them drinking. Mayor Dan Sullivan says the rash of deaths amounts to a crisis. He's tapped a team of professionals from inside and outside city government to tackle the problem and reduce the deaths, the violence and the damage to neighborhoods.

ARSON IN THE WOODS

Here's what happened this week, according to Anchorage police and witnesses:

Late Wednesday night, Robert Morrical and his girlfriend were arguing inside their tent, near where Sydney Blunt and a few other men camped, said John Whitley, whose tent was about 100 feet away.

Blunt, 57, saw himself as the enforcer of the camp. "A bully," Whitley said. Others said that when he wasn't drinking too much, Blunt was a hard worker who tried to keep order in a place void of normal rules.

Blunt must have gone inside the quarreling couple's tent, Whitley said, because he saw Blunt come out a little while later. Inside, Morrical was beaten and bloody. Someone called 911. Morrical was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center. He was in critical condition Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Parker said he didn't have information on the extent of the injuries.

On Thursday evening, Blunt and two others set fire to Morrical's then-vacant tent, according to Anchorage police. One man doused the tent with gasoline, and Blunt lit it on fire, according to police. The third man then poured on more gasoline, said Whitley, who witnessed the act and spoke with police. Another man also witnessed the fire setting, police said.

The tent seemed to explode when lit, Whitley said. He called 911. The fire burned fast and hot. It was within 15 feet of other people's tents in a wooded area. Firefighters put it out quickly.

Police say the other two suspects were identified as Swande A. Norback Jr., 50 and Julius Raphael, 57.

Blunt, Norback and Raphael have been charged with arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. All three have records. Blunt has four assault convictions in Alaska and a shoplifting case from last year in which he stole a tent and Coleman lantern. He also recently was charged with drunken driving and has felon-in-possession of weapons convictions from Oklahoma. Norback and Raphael both have multiple drunken driving convictions along with other crimes to their name.

Police say Blunt is suspected in the attack on Morrical and the investigation continues. He hadn't been charged with that assault as of Friday.

One of the witnesses told police that Blunt orchestrated the fire to destroy the assault crime scene, police said.

Norback wouldn't talk to police. Raphael told police that Blunt told him Norback started the fire, according to a charging document filed in court.

Police spotted Blunt on Thursday evening walking out of the camp to his 1988 Chevy truck, parked on a muddy road nearby. He at first denied having anything to do with the fire but later told the magistrate he tossed a bike on it, the charging document said. Two bags of clothing burned up, too, police said.

'TAXES' ON THE ILLEGAL CAMPERS

On Friday, two police officers were at the scene. They picked up the gas cans as evidence and left.

Remnants of the couple's life dotted the wet ground at the burned tent site: shreds of clothes, mattress springs, some oranges, some Top Ramen noodles. Whitley said the woman had left the camp. He's left, too. He's working full time and getting out of the woods.

Morrical told officers that Blunt assaulted him because he had "not paid Sydney enough," police said in a written statement.

A group of homeless men still at the camp on Friday said Blunt tried to collect "taxes" from residents.

"Syd has to tax everybody who lives around here," one man said. He wouldn't give his name. He was drinking Natural Ice, a high-octane beer.

It wasn't clear how the taxes worked or even who got hit up. One man, a close friend of Blunt's who helped run the camp, said he never had to pay. Another said some men paid Blunt gas money when he drove them to jobs.

Whitley said he never heard of Blunt going after people for "taxes" and questioned why anyone would pay that.

The camp where Blunt lived was well-equipped, with generators, heaters, a TV, movies, a stereo, and couches.

Blunt's truck was towed off after the fire. No one is sure how they'll get gas for the generators anymore.

Parker said he and police Sgt. Denny Allen regularly busted up camps in that area years ago. But lately, it's been a magnet anew. Except for the school and bike path traffic, the site is isolated. There are no neighborhoods nearby.

On Thursday, police again posted the Veterans' Ridge camps to be cleared out.

Three men still there wouldn't give their full names. One said he was the keeper of the camp.

"I'm not moving nowhere," Patrick said. "You can arrest me or release me. I'll come right back here."

"I got my generators. I spent $600 bucks for my generators, stereo, TV, and propane tanks. I don't see no reason to ... harass me."

Another man, Erik, 41, had set up his camp apart from the rest. It was under a city sign that said no camping, no fires, no firing of guns, no cutting of trees. He said he lives off monthly disability payments but it's not enough for an apartment.

Asked whether the atmosphere in the homeless camp is violent, Erik said, "No more than Earth. There's little eruptions." Usually, he said, people just get "happy drunk and pass out." He'll clean up his spot and find another, he said.

Last week, Blunt said he had spent much of his adult life in prison and didn't see a way out of the camps. He tried to keep his spot neat and orderly. He said police had been there before and told his group, "Good job, guys. Good clean job."

"They just tell us not to get too comfortable because things could change," Blunt said. And now he's in real trouble, charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390.

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