UNION CITY, Ga. — Police are on the trail of a man they say illegally dumped more than 12,000 old tires in a neighborhood in south Fulton County.
Neighbors near Oakhurst Way in Union City told Channel 2's Berndt Petersen they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the massive pile of tires.
State environmental officials say this is one of the worst cases of illegal tire dumping they have ever seen.
"It definitely doesn't make you feel good that this is literally in your backyard. You wouldn't wish this on another neighborhood or any neighborhood at all," neighbor Cralen Davis said.
Union City Mayor Vince Williams told Petersen that police have a suspect.
"We will hunt you down," Williams said.
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Detectives say Donald Leverette, of Riverdale, made his living hauling discarded rubber from local tire shops.
But instead of taking the loads to an approved processor, he dumped the tires along Oakhurst Way, police said.
"How could somebody with any type of sense do anything like this?" Union City Police Chief Cassandra Jones said.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division said the pile is a health hazard.
"Mosquitoes are first and foremost. And also fire," said Russell Nix, with the EPD.
Davis told Petersen that he'll keep his kids away from the block until the rubbish is removed. From now on, he and his neighbors will watch who comes in and who goes out of the neighborhood much more closely.
"Sometimes from something dark, light can come out. If anything, it made us a tighter neighborhood. In the long run, that could be a benefit to us," Davis said.
Police believe Leverette has done the same thing in neighboring counties, as well.
Cox Media Group
