SEATTLE -- 23 people arrested for trespassing during a Sept. 2008 police raid on a homeless encampment in West Seattle known as "Nickelsville" will have their cases dismissed.

Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr says it would take too many resources for the city to prosecute each person.

Twenty two of the tent city's residents and the organizer were taken into custody on Sept. 28 after they defied orders to leave their encampment, which was then on city property owned by the Seattle Department of Transportation. The 23 were released after processing.

Carr says it was the SDOT that requested the cases be dropped.

"Nickelsville" is a homeless encampment that is known for its pink tents and was given the name as jab at Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who the residents said didn't do enough about the plight of the homeless.

The camp has since moved to several locations around Seattle and is currently set up in a church parking lot in the Bryn Mawr area of South Seattle.