Several dozen police officers from a handful of agencies descended on a downtown railroad corridor early Thursday, rousting and arresting homeless people living along the tracks.

"We're looking for fugitives, and we're looking for stolen property," said David Wardell, vice president of operations and public safety for the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, the agency coordinating Thursday's raid.

Wardell said 13 people were arrested, three on outsanding warrants and 10 for criminal trespassing. All of those arrested for trespassing had been previously warned during earlier crackdowns along the tracks, which are mostly under downtown viaducts.

Another 10 homeless people were given a first warning about tresspassing and released.

Wardell said suspects in several recent break-ins of cars in nearby parking lots had been tracked to the encampments, which stretched along the CSX rail lines from beneath CNN Center east to near Georgia State University, an area commonly known as the "gulch."

Among the stolen items recovered during the 5:30 a.m. operation were an electric wheelchair and 20 or more parking meters, poles and all.

Wardell said homeless people steal the meters from parking places, then put them on the railroad tracks for trains to run over and break open so they can take the coins.

Agencies involved in the crackdown included Atlanta police, MARTA police, Georgia State University police, Georgia State Capitol police, Federal Protective Service, and police from CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads.

"Georgia State University police were the ones really complaining about having problems with them," Wardell said.

He said representatives from the Gateway Homeless Services Center were on hand Thursday morning to assist those requesting help finding a place to live, "but they don't want that. They want to sleep on the streets."