How Did A Bag Of Trash Get This Newark Woman Arrested?

NEWARK, NJ — Toss a bag of trash into the wrong dumpster in Newark and it can get you arrested. That’s exactly what happened to a local woman on Monday, who now faces charges of illegal dumping and illegal transport of solid waste, police say.

The incident began shortly before 1 p.m., when members of the city’s recently created Illegal Dumping Task Force allegedly saw a 23-year-old Newark woman get out of her parked car at Hawthorne and Jelliff avenues and remove a cardboard box and a single bag of garbage from the trunk.

The woman then walked over to a nearby dumpster – which belonged to a business on the 100-block of Hawthorne Avenue – and chucked the trash inside. None of the garbage included any hazardous materials, police said.

Officers then apprehended the woman and towed her car, which is now subject to seizure via forfeiture laws, police stated.

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When asked if the woman had any prior violations in the city or was a habitual offender, a spokesperson for the Newark Department of Public Safety provided the following reply:

“Anyone, not only individuals who have been previously warned or habitual offenders, can be arrested for dumping trash on private or city property.”

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In June, Newark officials announced that they were creating an Illegal Dumping Task Force made up of members of the Newark police, fire officials and municipal sanitation personnel that would use surveillance cameras to “target the locations where offenses are most prevalent.”

Newark officials promised that “illegal dumping offenders” would have their vehicles towed, be fined for the cleanup and face criminal charges, including court costs.

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“Illegal dumping creates blight in our neighborhoods and diminishes the quality of life for all Newark residents,” Mayor Ras Baraka said. “In creating this task force, we are sending a strong message: If you dump on Newark, you will be towed, fined and even jailed.”

Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said that local police “take the matter very seriously” and will be “vigilant about putting an end to this practice.”

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In recent years, Newark city officials have launched enforcement campaigns against other non-violent crimes such as panhandling and prostitution.

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According to FBI data, there were 107 murders, 107 rapes, 1,877 robberies and 1,130 aggravated assaults in Newark during 2015.

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