A HOMELESS man has built a tiny home branded a “ticking time bomb” after stealing a digger to find “treasure”.
Steven Irwin, 41, caused almost £12,000 worth of damage when he tore up a hillside in Seattle city park with an excavator that had been pinched.
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He claimed he wanted to dig up the ground to find gold.
Irwin was arrested and charged with property destruction following the incident last October.
But the treasure hunter has now returned to the site – and this time built a shoddy cabin.
He claims to be caving out a “mine” to search for gold – insisting he he permission to be there.
The makeshift home has multiple generators, fireplaces, propane heaters, a washing machine – and even a treadmill.
Andrea Suarez of We Heart Seattle, a homeless outreach group, told KOMO News: “He is digging into the slopes, building structures, tearing down trees, undoing thousands of dollars in repairs.
“There’s also a risk for him being in that environment. There are smells of kerosene, propane, and gasoline – there are three different forms of fuel down here, wires everywhere.
“It’s a ticking timebomb.”
But Suarez warned Irwin plans to do just more than live illegally on the grounds.
She said: “He’s dreaming up that this is a gold mine, that he’s mining for diamonds, and that he is going to find gold and strike it rich.”
Irwin was caught by cops in October last year after numerous 911 calls were made by concerned neighbours of Dr. Jose Rizal Park.
Park steward Genevieve Courtney told Fox 13: “I just happen to come across him as I was coming home.
“He was driving a little crazy with this heavy piece of machinery. I called 911 and they were like, ‘Does he have a weapon?’ I am like, ‘Yes, he has a backhoe. That’s a weapon.
“It’s scary seeing someone with a big excavator going through the park, and it could have been a lot worse of a situation.”
Irwin is now using power and hand tools to clear away areas of the park in his bizarre mission to find gold.
Neighbours of the park have called on cops to intervene.
Brian Hartman told the outlet: “This guy is just getting away with it, and I don’t understand that.
“We are absolutely frustrated. We need some civility here, we need police action.”
But Suarez said Irwin has no intention of packing up.
She said: “This is a call to action by law enforcement and Seattle Parks and Recreation to do something.
“I’ve even offered to pay for his first six months of housing, and he said, ‘That’s great. I’m still going to keep my cabin in the woods’.”
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