11/2/2009 6:00:00 AM Wildcat dumper accepts plea offer Investigation led to company that cleans up foreclosured properties
Mohave County/Courtesy
A licensed contractor who cleaned up a foreclosed property in Kingman and then dumped this pile of trash in the desert near Temple Bar Road was tracked down by Mohave County Environmental Rural Area Cleanup Enforcement.
KINGMAN - After more than six months of investigation, Mohave County Environmental Rural Cleanup Enforcement has gotten their man, a Maricopa County contractor who illegally dumped more than a ton of trash in the desert.
Jeff Inglin of Inglin Properties, LLC accepted a plea agreement Tuesday and pleaded guilty to felony commercial criminal littering. He could face 90 days of jail time plus a fine to be determined at sentencing. He will be sentenced on Dec. 3.
"I was contacted by Lake Mead Recreation Area Park Ranger Erik Westpfahl on April 7," said ERACE Investigator George Young. "The rangers had come upon a large amount of household items off Temple Bar Road at U.S. 93, mile marker 19, which had been illegally dumped during the night."
Westpfahl brought Young evidence that linked the trash to a house in Kingman. Young followed the evidence and found that the house had been foreclosed on and that the mortgage company, Moore Equity Mortgage, Inc., had contracted with Spectrum Field Services, Inc., out of Salt Lake City, to clean up the property. Spectrum Field then subcontracted the job to Hass Field Services of Scottsdale.
"The owner of Haas told me he contracted Jeff Inglin of Inglin Properties LLC to do the work," Young said. "He had been using him for a lot of jobs. Following the Kingman house, Inglin was to do seven more cleanouts on foreclosed homes in Las Vegas."
The owner of Haas Field Services cleaned up the mess and provided Young with a fake landfill receipt that Inglin turned in to him. The receipt showed that the landfill charged Inglin $450.
"Our landfill only charges $32 per ton. There is a minimum charge of around $8 at the landfill, with the average pickup truck load only costing about $15 for disposal," Young said.
Young also spoke with some of the neighbors in the Kingman area who witnessed the cleanout and described the vehicle, trailer and the two men cleaning up the house.
"They said the trash was stacked so high that the two men used materials to build up the sides on the trailer to stack the stuff even higher," he said.
Young called Inglin, who admitted that he did the cleanout of the house in question.
"He told me he thought the load was too big, so he stopped at Wal-Mart to buy rope to tie it down. While he was in the parking lot, he said someone with a bigger trailer pulled up and asked him if he needed help getting the load to the landfill," Young said. "He claimed he paid this person $200 to take the load to the landfill. He said it was getting dark and he didn't want to spend the night in Kingman with the load of trash, admitting he knew the landfill was closed at that time. He didn't get a receipt from the other driver and he couldn't describe him. He was very vague."
Young said Inglin had to drive by Temple Bar Road to get to Las Vegas.
"That was the last chance he had to pull off and go down a dark road and dump all that stuff before he got to the checkpoint at the dam," Young said. "He couldn't have crossed the dam with that load."
The fact that this was done for commercial purposes makes it a felony, he said. The Registrar of Contractors told Young that Inglin had had his license suspended once before and a felony conviction would lead to it being revoked.
"We are currently working two other commercial cases," Young said. "We have identified suspects. One of them is in the court system right now. The other one, we are waiting for compliance from the perpetrator in lieu of prosecution.
"Unlike Inglin, these other two suspects are not licensed," he said. "With the poor economy, there are a lot of folks out there who put out flyers and to do odd jobs."
ERACE recommends that residents negotiate with anyone they hire to haul trash. They should only give a partial payment with the final payment conditional on bringing back a landfill receipt. Otherwise, if the trash is dumped in the desert, the homeowner can become responsible for cleaning up the mess.
The ERACE investigators depend on the public's assistance to find illegal dumpsites.
Information such as a description of the people dumping the trash, vehicles and trailers and a license plate number if possible, make it much easier to track down wildcat dumpers, Young said. He suggests that witnesses concentrate on recording what they see and not to try to confront any wildcat dumpers.
To report a wildcat dumping incident, call the Mohave County Sheriff's Office at (928) 753-0753. To report a dumpsite, call ERACE at (928) 715-0480.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, November 05, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
RE: No name provided on Nov 3
I live next door to a house with multiple families living in it. They have lots of kids, and their yard is very immaculately kept. So I guess you could say that having an extended family with many children is irrelevant to what you were trying to say - but I get your point.
Posted: Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Article comment by:
Sara
@No Name Provided-Butler Resident
Not all of Butler is as you describe. I have lived in Butler over a year and my neighbors are great. I know 4 out of 6 of the neighbors directly surrounding me in addition to several more in each direction. I have not had any problems with the exception of occasional driver going a bit too fast. There was an offer of a Community Communication Program a few months ago but it got shot down as “Nosy Neighbor” kind of thing. Perhaps with neighbors more concerned about what goes on outside their own yard we could clean up the not so great parts.
Posted: Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
@Someone who knows
If someone tossed a big bag of garbage in the middle of my street, examination of the contents would likely reveal who dumped it in a very short time. If you are indeed "someone who knows" I imagine you might well be a overpaid and underworked civil servant protecting the image of yourself or cronies.
Posted: Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Its sad when we try our hardest to keep our homes nice and clean and then rent property next door they let just anyone come in with several families and tons of kids and on top of that theives,and trash trash trash. i live in butler area and its a mess over here, more of us need to bond together and get something done to clean up our town and community.....Its sad!!!
Posted: Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Article comment by:
Someone who knows
In response to (NO NAME PROVIDED) The article is not totally correct. The investigation took only 2 weeks. It was six months from the time the complaint was received until the defendant took a plea. FYI that is extremely fast judicial process. Glad to have been able to educate [deleted].
Posted: Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Article comment by:
Butch Meriwether
I congratulate the E.R.A.C.E. officers for being able to track down the illegal dumper. I too hate it when certain people have no respect for our beautiful area. All I can say is always carry a pen, paper and a camera so you can document any illegal dumping you observe. The more those people are caught, the better off our county will be. And yes, I wished the particular guy would have got more time, but I understand there are sentencing guidelines.
Posted: Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
[Deleted]. Isn't that what they make county dumps for!!!! Oh that's right he would have had to pay a small fee for dumping. [Deleted].
Posted: Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Article comment by:
SHAME on him!
Not enough jail time- what in the world was this person thinking- dumping junk all over our beautiful desert? Shame. Thanks to the law enforcement people for nabbing him. We don't need people like him in Mohave County. Go away!
Posted: Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Article comment by:
Dave
To bad you can't just dump it all in this clowns front yard...then immediately call the local control officer.....dump it in our back yard..we dump it in your front yard! LOL
Posted: Monday, November 02, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
It took a 6 month investigation? Am i alone in thinking this is an excessive amount of time to get this done? The moment the clues led to the foreeclosed property it should have been a cakewalk.
Posted: Monday, November 02, 2009
Article comment by:
D
@ Icarus
Very true! This guy didn't have to drive all that way with that load.
High five to the investigators, by the way.
Posted: Monday, November 02, 2009
Article comment by:
FreedomLover
Good work!
I bet most of this stuff could have been dropped off at a charitable organization (Goodwill, St. Vincents, etc.) and they could have sold it & dumped what they couldn't use.
Posted: Monday, November 02, 2009
Article comment by:
Icarus
Unfortunately if they dumped it in parts of Golden Valley or birdland no one would have noticed.
