Two illegal dumping cases closed with arrest

Deputies caught people dumping in two separate cases  over the weekend, one in the Lower Keys and one in the Upper Keys.

On Saturday, the Sheriff’s Office received a report of a van on the bike path at the 101 mile marker. When Deputy Jean Gonzalez arrived at 7:45 a.m., he found two men replacing an engine in a van. They said they’d been working on it all night. Both the old and new engines were on the bike path, along with the van itself. A short time after the deputy arrived on the scene, he got a report that another van had been dumped on the property of a nearby business, Wheaton’s Service Center. The dumped van was missing its engine.

One of the men working on the first van, 46 year old Curt Murphy of Key Largo, admitted to dumping the other van at Wheaton’s after removing its engine. He was placed under arrest and taken to jail, charged with felony illegal dumping, over 500 pounds.

On Sunday at 4:20 p.m., Deputy Vince Pacifico responded to Boca Chica Road to a report of illegal dumping. He found a large pile of household waste, approximately 350 pounds of trash, piled on the right of way. He found a shipping label on a box in the trash which he traced to a property on Park Drive, Rockland Key. Upon questioning the residents 35 year old Deborah Keen and 46 year old John Parker, who live at that location, they admitted to dumping the trash.

The couple responded to the scene and cleaned up the trash. Deputy Pacifico explained the proper method for disposing of household waste. Both Keen and Parker were issued notices to appear in court for misdemeanor illegal dumping under 500 pounds.