Michael Bushnell
Northeast News

In what’s being called one of the most egregious cases of illegal dumping in recent history, city officials and the Kansas City Missouri Police Department have identified a person and vehicle of interest after over 2,000 tires were dumped along an abandoned street at 14th & Kensington.

According to city Illegal Dumping Investigator Alan Ashurst, the area is one of the worst illegal dump sites in the city.

“We had pictures of a specific 18-wheel truck coming through in which the occupant was possibly dumping some tires back here in the vacant lot,” said Ashurst.

After property owners cleared the lot of roughly 2,000 tires, eye witnesses identified an 18-wheeler that frequented the area and flagged down police after another load of tires had been dumped in the vacant lot.

East Patrol Sergeant Mike Luster was in the area answering another call for service when people from a nearby business flagged him down and identified the truck and driver as responsible for part of the huge mound of illegally-dumped tires just to the north of 14th and Kensington.

“I could see a pile of tires down at the end of the street so I pulled the truck over as he turned on to Truman Road and made contact with the driver,” said Luster.

Luster declined to identify the suspect as the case is still under investigation.

Ashurst credited the partnership with the police department for the case moving forward.

“KCPD has been a fantastic partner as far as resources are concerned,” Ashurst said. “The network of cameras here in terms of KCPD and the Truman Corridor CID that envelopes this entire property and it was instrumental in us catching this individual.”

The case is an ongoing investigation and police and city officials are working together in building the case and the filing of charges.