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Richmond Prosecutes Illegal Dumping Suspects

I have been a long time critic of the City Attorney’s Office and the Code Enforcement component of the Police Department for not dealing aggressively enough with code enforcement responsibilities. They have been telling me of late that their code enforcement activities have been ramped up substantially. I challenged them to publicize some of their successes so that the public would have confidence that complaints would be acted on. Well, it looks like that is happening. Note that the dumper is from Rodeo. I am looking forward to the day that people will want to visit Richmond for reasons other than illegally disposing of their excess stuff. See story below from the West County Times that will warm your heart if you value a clean city:

Richmond prosecutes illegal dumping suspects

By Karl Fischer
West County Times

Article Launched: 10/31/2008 04:40:27 PM PDT


The Richmond city attorney's office filed criminal charges this week against a woman accused of dumping illegally near the Parchester Village neighborhood.

"I think she had her niece and granddaughter with her," Assistant City Attorney Trish Aljoe said. "They had a 19- or 20-foot U-Haul trailer. I couldn't believe it."

A resident called police about 8:30 p.m. Oct. 21 to report a 20-foot U-Haul trailer near the intersection of Collins and Morton avenues, near the Parchester Village park and community center, unloading copious amounts of trash into the street.

Richmond police Officer Victor Vaca responded and caught the dumpers in the act, police Chief Chris Magnus said.

"There were three women," Magnus said. "(The driver) said she was moving and had to get rid of a bunch of stuff. She didn't want to pay the dump fee, and she knew that the area in question was pretty dark and a good place to dump her things."

The 49-year-old Rodeo resident planned to leave four mattresses, several dressers, night stands, dresser drawers and many other large pieces of unwanted material in the middle of the street, Magnus added. The area is frequently plagued by illegal dumpers.

Vaca arrested and booked the driver on suspicion of violating city ordinances banning illegal dumping and cited the two other females, 18 and 17. On Thursday, Aljoe followed up in court by charging the 49-year-old with a misdemeanor.

The illegal-dumping misdemeanor carries maximum penalties of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, along with restitution to the public agency required to clean up the mess.

Richmond offers rewards to people who tip about illegal dumping, Aljoe said.

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@bayareanewsgroup.com.