Monday, August 2, 2021

My 2nd Attempt Catching a Litterer - Was this time a success?

A few months back I had witnessed someone throwing garbage out of their car into a parking lot. I happened to get a picture of it including the make and model of the car as well as their license plate. Later that day I reported it to the police but they basically said they can't do anything about it at this point and that if I see it again, call it in right away.

Fast forward to today, I happen to be driving around and notice 2 cars parked in an empty parking lot with a bunch of garbage on the ground in between and around their cars. They were there in the vehicles with the doors open so it was pretty obvious it was from them.

I pulled into the lot and parked far away to observe them to see if they would happen to throw any more garbage out of their cars. My first instinct was to go over to them and ask what is going on with all the garbage on the ground, but I decided it would be best not to confront them.

Soon, I got an order for my work so I had to leave to pick up a delivery. While on the order I kept thinking about the situation. I considered reporting it to the police but some time had passed and they might have left and I figured the police were probably busy with more important matters. I decided I was going to swing back around to check on it again after I completed my order.

So about 20 minutes later I was on my way back. I figured if they left, I was going to clean up the mess they made because I hate when people litter. I decided if they were still there, I would call the police and report it.

So I drive by and sure enough, they are still there. I loop around and find side street that is far away but has a view of the parking lot. Then I call the police. I let them know the location and describe the situation. They thank me for reporting it and let me know they would send an officer out to check on it.

As soon as we ended the call, I hear police sirens. I was thinking, there is no way that is them, that has to just be a coincidence.

Then I see one of the cars in the parking lot starting to leave. I'm thinking, oh great, they are going to leave now and then when the police show up there will be no one here. But just as they started to leave, the police show up and stop them! This all happened in less than 30 seconds from making the report.

I stayed in my car and kept an eye on the situation from a distance. I could see the officer talking to them for a few minutes and then I saw the people in the cars cleaning up their mess, so the officers must have told them to clean it up.

I stuck around for a few more minutes but then I decided to leave. I'm not sure if they were issued tickets or if anything else happened, but I was glad to see at least they were confronted on it. With so many people in this world who litter thinking there is no consequence, it was nice to finally see someone get caught and be held accountable for their actions.

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