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Man looks to shame those who trash neighborhood

Posted at 6:15 PM, Mar 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-02 21:15:39-05

A local man is hoping to put those who trash his neighborhood to shame.

Along a dirt road in the Webster area, 10News spotted Jonathan Olow picking up trash.

"It's just ugly and it doesn't make you proud to live in a neighborhood," said Olow.

He said trash is dumped on this road every few days. On Tuesday, he saw something he has never seen before -- a dumping before his eyes.

"I actually jumped out of my car and halfway down the road, I saw a man and woman dumping trash. My adrenaline got going. I knew I had to get their license plate and a photo.

At that moment, he decided to run, along the unpaved street, to within 10 feet of the truck. Despite being worried about what the couple might do, he took his phone out and snapped two photos.

One photo shows the truck next to this trash, while the other is a close-up of the trash.

"They covered up their faces and then they took off," said Olow.

Later, Olow called the city, but because crews had already picked up the trash, a ticket couldn't be written.

That's when Olow went online and posted the photos on social media, hoping for a public shaming.

"My message to them is we are not a dumping ground," said Olow.

Olow said it's time for San Diegans to take a stand to protect their neighborhoods.

"You can't just come into our neighborhood and drop your trash and make it an ugly place. I wanted to show people in Webster that one person can make a difference," said Olow, who heads the Webster Community Council.

In San Diego, there are more than 25,000 cases every year of illegal dumping and littering.