Homeless successfully sue Titusville after belongings tossed

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A group of homeless men who sued the city of Titusville after their belongings were tossed have settled out of court.

Eyewitness News first reported on the legal battle in March.

Channel 9's Melonie Holt was there as four men were given checks.

For most people, $9,000 wouldn't help replace belongings but it's a lot of money for someone who is homeless.

One of the men said he'd been surviving on $25 a week.

National Veterans Homeless Support hopes the money can be used to help that vet and others in the settlement with the city find permanent housing.

Harry Duhr said he and others lost everything they owned when the city of Titusville wiped out their homeless camps two years ago.

"They didn't even leave me a cigarette butt. When I came back everything was gone. Everything I own. My bike, my radio, my main paperwork," Duhr said.

Duhr and four others filed a lawsuit. They told Eyewitness News it was settled out of court for the sum of $9,000 for each plaintiff. Some of them received their checks at National Veterans Homeless Support in Titusville Wednesday.

"Maybe go to a motel for a couple of weeks, get out of Florida," Duhr said.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, also a veteran like Duhr, was not here. David Gotshall passed away earlier this month. His son came to honor his dad's memory.

"I'd be more pleased to see my father live to be here now," Gotshall said.

Gotshall's son said in the past he'd tried to give his father a place to stay before his dad lost all his belongings and before he was brutally attacked with a hammer as he slept last year.

"He just didn't want to be a burden to me," Gotshall said.

National Veterans Homeless Support founder George Taylor said he hopes this settlement will help stabilize the housing situation for the surviving plaintiffs.

"I can't make them do what I choose them to do, but that's what I'm hoping, with that permanent support to get them a permanent place so they can start their life again," Taylor said.

Taylor said Wednesday he'd like to find some inexpensive lots for the plaintiffs.

WFTV