CHICAGO -- Authorities in Chicago evicted a man Sunday who had reportedly been making his home for at least three years in a hut he built beneath the roadway on one of the city's drawbridges.
Images: Bridge Dweller Evicted
Video: Man Evicted From Drawbridge HutRichard Dorsay, 36, originally of suburban Burr Ridge, had been living on the Lake Shore Drive bridge over the Chicago River. According to Department of Transportation workers, the entrance to the hut was a 2-foot-by-10-inch hole in the bridge surface that Dorsay would squeeze into. Then, he would drop down 5 feet and crawl on a beam for about 20 feet before reaching his makeshift hut.
Authorities said he had disguised the hut with old blankets and had fitted it out with a space heater, a television, a PlayStation videogame and a microwave. Dorsay allegedly obtained electricity by tapping into the wiring in the bridgetender's office. He told the
Chicago Sun-Times that he would also would bathe in the sink in the bridge house.
"(I'm) not quite certain where he got the power from, but evidently, he found a working electrical outlet that is part of the bridge operation and just strung it to the location that he was tucked away at," said DOT spokesman Brian Steele.
Dorsay's hut rose up and down when the bridge was raised and lowered -- something he compared to rising on a Ferris wheel.
Mayor Richard M. Daley said that in cases like this, the city is most concerned for the safety of the homeless.
"I'm worried about the individual, that's No. 1. I mean, you really worry about the safety of the individual -- if he's homeless, he or she -- what's happening to them, what kind of issues they have. We want to help that individual," Daley said.
NBC5's Amy Jacobson reported that Dorsay returned to his parents' home in a gated Burr Ridge community after the eviction. He is a Hinsdale Central High School graduate who admits to having dyslexia and emotional problems.
Upon his eviction, Dorsay was charged with criminal trespassing.
According to city officials, squatters have lived inside other Chicago bridges from time to time.
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