Chaotic lake getting fence and security

Reporter: Haley Zarcone
Published: Updated:

Fences and increased security are about to put an end to the wild weekends at Barefoot Lake.

The owner of the lake in Lehigh Acres is done with the partiers and their violence, drugs and trash.

They’re making sure the public stays off their private land, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office is helping them make it happen.

The neighbors we spoke with Friday said they moved here for this lake.

Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out. Others are worried that a fence will also keep out the fond memories they have of that lake.

“They race recklessly, but I’m aware there’s a lot of accidents; they’d knock on my door,” an anonymous neighbor said. “I get to see them on social media or because you guys come to my house all that time.”

Neighbors agree it’s a nice piece of real estate.

“It’s just, they just see, like, a super big lot, an empty lot, and they just assume that they could park or they could do, but that’s pretty much trespassing. You got to be aware,” an anonymous neighbor said.

A Facebook post from Friday shows that Lee County is aware. Starting this weekend, LCSO will have crews present at the lake.

The owner of this property, who lives in the Czech Republic, is now putting up a fence.

Keeping more than just lakegoers out, this fence will block out memories for some.

Issey de Los Reyes said his dad was in this lake every weekend before he passed away.

Now he’s worried his memory won’t live on with a fence in the way.

“He told me one weekend, ‘I thought that it was just full of alligators’, all that stuff, and one weekend, like they just went out, and those people four wheelers people swim in, and he was like, ‘I hit the jackpot,'” Los Reyes said.

LCSO has a watch tower up and ready for this weekend.

They said they will be there on Saturday and Sunday.

As for the fence, that’s up to the owner to decide how quickly it is put in.

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