Interagency teamwork resulted in the arrest of a Capitol Heights (MD) man caught dumping a large amount of waste gasoline into the street on the 600 block of 46th Street, NE last week, according to the District Department of Public Works (DPW).

A DPW Parking Services officer was patrolling Ward 7 at approximately 11:15AM on Thursday, January 3, when she saw an unmarked tow truck with Maryland plates removing an abandoned vehicle. The tow truck had hoisted the car nearly upright in an effort to drain the gasoline still in the vehicle's fuel tank. The DPW officer noted that gas was "gushing" into the street from punctures made in the tank.

She immediately reported the illegal dumping incident to her supervisors and stayed on the scene until members of the DPW/MPD Environmental Crimes Unit and several police cruisers arrived. Environmental Crimes Unit investigators, Anita Chavis (DPW) and Paul Kurgan (MPD) estimated that the tow driver had illegally dumped between 10 and 20 gallons of gasoline into the street, polluting public space. (A standard bathtub holds approximately 30 gallons of liquid.) The driver had not attempted to mitigate the spill.

The tow operator, Andre Brooks, was arrested and charged with Felony Illegal Dumping, which carries a fine of $5000 to $25,000 and incarceration in Federal prison.

DPW Director Leslie Hotaling said, "I am very pleased with the cooperative effort of our team. We want to make it very clear to individuals who think they can get away with trashing the District: If you dump here, you will get caught and you will be prosecuted"