Couple charged with illegal dumping

A couple illegally camping on State Park property was arrested after they failed to clean up their campsite after being warned to do so.

On January 1^st, Sgt. Joel Slough responded to Curry Hammock State Park in Marathon where he located a illegal campsite in a wooded area just north of Coco Plum Drive, on the State Park property. The campsite was occupied by two people, 22 year old Brooke Martin and 35 year old Keith Elswick. At the request of the park manager, he issued them a trespass warning for the property. He told them they had 48 hours to remove their property from the area. At the campsite, he observed  a significant amount of property and trash, including tarps, bags of personal items, various items of litter and a large number of cigarette butts.

On January 5^th, Sgt. Slough returned to the area and found some personal items removed, but many of the items still there. Warrants were obtained for both of them and on Monday, Martin and Elswick were arrested. They were charged with illegal dumping and they were booked into jail.