ORLANDO, Fla. — As leaders in the city of Orlando and Orange County work to provide more housing for the homeless, Orlando International Airport is trying to prevent transients from taking the bus and spending the night there.
Convicted sex offender Robert Meineke told Channel 9's Kathi Belich that the airport is a great place to spend the night.
"There's a bunch of people; they stay out there constantly. They take bird baths in the restrooms downstairs," Meineke said.
Meineke can't get into a shelter because he's on probation for not registering as a sex offender, and he said he doesn't want to get caught camping downtown.
"I just wanted to see if it would work. I had nowhere else to go," Meineke said. "It worked. Nobody questioned me, so I tried it again and again."
Channel 9 found a homeless prep cook who said it is working for him.
It was after midnight. He blended in with arriving tourists and was even able to charge his cellphone.
"It's been so hard, and I'm trying to make it until I get paid again. (I'll) find me a room and start over again," said the man, who didn't want to be identified.
The tearful man said he had nowhere to sleep that night.
"I didn't know I was going to be in this situation today," he said.
Belich learned that a number of homeless take the last night Lynx bus from the outlet malls to the airport.
The next bus doesn't arrive at the airport until 5 a.m.
If they get caught trespassing, as one woman did while Belich was at the airport, they still spend the night.
Officials with OIA would like Lynx to change the bus route.
Records show 50 people were cited for trespassing at the airport in the first nine months of the year.
Three months ago Orlando police said they caught a homeless man in the airport with a loaded gun in his pocket around midnight.
Last year, 78 transients were given trespass citations, and there was a bed bug infestation at the airport.
Meineke said he and others are taking advantage of the relative comfort of the airport too often.
"Even you?" Belich asked him.
"Even me. I took advantage six times, (which) is too much," Meineke said.
WFTV
