Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Illegal recycler tracked down by SDPD in Ocean Beach

Officers cite woman for pilfering bottles and cans

Police and code-enforcement officers bust a recycler
Police and code-enforcement officers bust a recycler

I was sitting on my couch on a quiet, sunny morning in Ocean Beach on February 25, when the not-too-unusual sounds of police sirens made me get up to see what the ruckus was about.

I saw two women talking to a third woman, whose bike was lying on the pavement. One police car and two officers were there, and within minutes, two other squad cars showed up.

Sponsored
Sponsored

After approaching to talk to them, I discovered that two of the women were code-enforcement officers with the city; they had tracked down the third woman, whom they said had been seen rummaging through recycling bins in search of bottles and cans to redeem for cash.

Neither my neighbors (who were spectators) nor I were aware that this taking from recycling bins is a misdemeanor. When cited, a court date is set; a failure to appear would be followed by a bench warrant that can carry a fine of up to $1000 and six months in jail.

The woman the code-enforcement officers had been chasing pleaded with them for a warning, but they wrote her a citation. When I asked why it was illegal, I was told that we get free trash pickup in San Diego and this is funded by our recycling program; scavengers have siphoned millions of dollars from the program, according to the officers.

One of the officers told me that one of the scavengers was in a car and tried to run her down last week when she was attempting to approach the driver with a citation. She was able to get out of the way in time. She said there has been a big surge of recycling pilfering during the past couple of years due to the suffering economy, and some of the transgressors have grown hostile and even violent.

To report someone digging in your recycling bin, call Environmental Services at 858-694-7000.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Yo-Yo Ma, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky come to San Diego

Police and code-enforcement officers bust a recycler
Police and code-enforcement officers bust a recycler

I was sitting on my couch on a quiet, sunny morning in Ocean Beach on February 25, when the not-too-unusual sounds of police sirens made me get up to see what the ruckus was about.

I saw two women talking to a third woman, whose bike was lying on the pavement. One police car and two officers were there, and within minutes, two other squad cars showed up.

Sponsored
Sponsored

After approaching to talk to them, I discovered that two of the women were code-enforcement officers with the city; they had tracked down the third woman, whom they said had been seen rummaging through recycling bins in search of bottles and cans to redeem for cash.

Neither my neighbors (who were spectators) nor I were aware that this taking from recycling bins is a misdemeanor. When cited, a court date is set; a failure to appear would be followed by a bench warrant that can carry a fine of up to $1000 and six months in jail.

The woman the code-enforcement officers had been chasing pleaded with them for a warning, but they wrote her a citation. When I asked why it was illegal, I was told that we get free trash pickup in San Diego and this is funded by our recycling program; scavengers have siphoned millions of dollars from the program, according to the officers.

One of the officers told me that one of the scavengers was in a car and tried to run her down last week when she was attempting to approach the driver with a citation. She was able to get out of the way in time. She said there has been a big surge of recycling pilfering during the past couple of years due to the suffering economy, and some of the transgressors have grown hostile and even violent.

To report someone digging in your recycling bin, call Environmental Services at 858-694-7000.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tiny Home Central isn’t solving the San Diego housing crisis

But it does hope to help fill in the gaps
Next Article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.