Johnny Depp had a home invader on Thursday, and the man-made himself right at home. Law enforcement sources told reporters from TMZ that they were called to Depp’s home in the Hollywood Hills on Thursday afternoon. From the sound of it, the actor himself was not home.
Police got their first call about the intruder from Depp’s next-door neighbor, who reportedly saw a homeless man hanging out by their own swimming pool. When the neighbor confronted the man, he ran, hopping over a gate and heading towards Depp’s property. However, police responded to a more alarming call from Depp’s private security team, who said that a man had entered Depp’s house without an invitation. In the time it took the police to arrive at the scene, the man was able to make himself a drink and take a shower.
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The intruder was in the shower when police arrived and refused to come out of the bathroom until he was finished. Police reportedly kicked the door down and arrested him right then and there. They noted that he had made himself a drink out of Depp’s alcohol collection, so he seemed perfectly comfortable helping himself to the actor’s things.
Among the charges the intruder faces is felony vandalism, though it is not clear if that is for the door the police kicked in or another in the house. There was no mention of Depp having any involvement in the incident, so it seems safe to assume that the actor was not at this particular home. He keeps properties in several places around the world, including London, England and rural France.
Homelessness is a huge problem in the Los Angeles area, where a huge population of individuals without housing face constant crackdowns from the police. According to a report by CBS News Los Angeles, a new federal report last week estimated that there were just over 160,000 homeless people in California in January of 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic began. The economic fall-out of the pandemic has only made matters worse, and experts guessed that there are at least 20,000 more people without homes in the state today.
The state has a number of programs and initiatives meant to address this crisis and ensure that everyone has a safe and secure place to live, but efforts like this have been ongoing in southern California for decades. In the meantime, local authorities are under more scrutiny than ever for their treatment of homeless people — from crackdowns on encampments to aggressive arrests. Even as COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available, pandemic-related problems like this are likely to continue plaguing the U.S. for years.
