It has been reported in the past of at least one pick up truck which makes its rounds the day before ‘bulk pickup’ day, reportedly collecting trash left out in front of homes. However, more residents are complaining about these collectors, saying they were seen ‘collecting’ ‘trash’ from the front of the homes near the backyards.
“The police officer wanted to say that he only takes from the curb so don’t leave your bikes on the curb or sidewalk”, says a Park & 4th area resident. “In fact is he is walking up to the front of homes including just before the front of the backyard and claiming he thinks its junk”.
“Its a GMC sierra pickup truck white and a steel flat open trailer. This person may be selling things in the flea market”.
“The license plates (submitted to TLS) have been confirmed by 2 adults”.
Earlier this evening, at least two residents who had their bikes stolen by this suspect, cornered in the driver several blocks away and got the driver to return their bikes. TLS.
I’m just wondering if that police officer’s kid leaves his bike for a few moments on his lawn near the curb and I go up there and relieve him of his “trash”.. I wonder what kind of treatment I’d get from his dad if I was “caught” a couple blocks away with that bicycle…
i always suspected this guy …
maybe if residents kept their properties from looking like junkyards, the man wouldnt assume it was all trash.. drive down any street in town and all you see if toys strewn like garbage everywhere so is it any wonder someone assumes they are junk?
I would just like to take a moment to agree with #3. No one is allowed to steal, but if your kid’s bike hasn’t been near your front step in three months, it might be possible to share the blame.
I actually have a neighbor that collects these metal trash. I know him very well, and he is an upstanding individual. He once took one of my kids bikes which we left on our front lawn, RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES. When I told him that we still want the bike, he was so apologetic, and excused himself for days after, saying he didn’t realize etc.
Our neighbors do not leave stuff on their lawns. They don’t realize that when we leave stuff on our lawns, that we intend to continue to use them.
These people are mostly NOT thieves, just innocent people collecting metal trash.
Perhaps we should keep our lawns clean.
We had the same story a few months ago, he came “inside” our fenced complex and stole bikes, and when police arrived the officer said he was thinking its trash because it was in front of our steps and not inside our house…
Its NYC its illegal to collect trash that was put outside on the curb, because once it put out as trash it becomes city property! There was a story last year in the news about someone who away his old ac to a relative and got ticketed for stealing trash…
The township makes money from recycling metal
did anyone think of the possibility that maybe he honestly thought he was taking others peoples trash. they come the day before bulk pickup which clearly show that they just want to take the things other ppl are THROWING OUT. if they wanted to steal theyd do it every day of the month. and I’m wondering if the people who “got them to return the bikes” didnt just ask him to please return them as they weren’t garbage, and they simply gave it back.
My mom comes to me for shabbos from time to time. She is not frum. I live in Westgate and when we take walks on Shabbos she is motified by the garbage and bikes that are all over the lawns. When I moved in Westgate was so clean and nice. Now all the grass is discolored, the bushes are bare and garbage is all over the place. It has really become the projects of New York. A real slum area. It is such a chillul Hashem that the parents don’t teach their children to clean up after themselves. Why can’t they just put their bikes inside. I think that someone should load up all the bikes and have the parents claim them at the kosher west parking lot. IMAGINE RUMMAGING THROUGH THAT!
No, if he wanted to steal and go to jail he’d do it every day of the month. He does this before bulk pickup so that when the cops come he has an excuse.
Are u people all missing the that u put your bulk garbage at the curb NOT your front lawn and by the way its YOUR front lawn so you can leave what ever you want on it. Its your property where are some of you coming from
@whats wrong ppl
If you leave stuff on YOUR front lawn it’s just an open invitation for people to steal. Plus it makes the neighborhood look a mess! Have some pride!
I once asked the township to remove some logs on my property that they left there after cutting down a tree which was NOT on my property. They said they were only allowed to remove them from the curb, not from my property ( they removed them after I explained that they were the ones who let them fall there in the first place). My point is, that only if something is left by the curb should it be considered hefker, not if it left on your front walk or in your front yard etc. This guy with the pick up truck sounds fishy to me. He is looking to legitimize geneiva.
Agree with number 11. Most of you are missing the boat. These individuals are ‘collecting’ from the front of the house and even in backyards. Not talking about curb ‘collections’. While perhaps we should be neater that’s not the place of this article – they still shouldn’t ‘collect’ in front of my house.
#8 Why do you have to be negative … Why can’t you accept that people just don’t want their stuff ‘collected’ – nothing sinister about that. … and perhaps they ‘collect’ before bulk pickup so they have a ready excuse.
#9 I live in Westgate and I’m offended by your comments. With the exception of some individuals Westgate is a clean and neat area. I have yet to see the ‘garbage all over the lawns’. … and seriously – ‘like the projects of New York … a real slum area …’ where do you live … hhmmm … no still don’t see any ‘slum areas’. As far as toys are concerned, we love among families with many children, b”h, and especially on Shabbos you are going to find toys all over the place. You should explain the culture to your mother if you’re worried about chillul Hashem. (I have many non-frum relatives as well. They all understand that frum families in an all frum neighborhood are not going to live in perfect-everything-in-its-place homes with manicured lawns.) This does not create a chillul Hashem. It’s called children play with toys on Shabbos (or any other day) and we don’t have someone walling behind them putting everything back in its place. Slum areas … Please.
Yenta, the reason they come before pickup is to have an excuse for the cops if they get caught! What I don’t understand is why they cops are still accepting that excuse even after so many repeated complaints about them and at times It’s not acceptable excuse for example in front of your door etc.
Remember the township only picks up from the curb.
By now those so called collectors should know that if its not by the curb you have NO right to take it! If he still feels that a new looking bike maybe out for trash… please at least confirm with the owner before stealing it… And if not he should be arrested!
#13 I agree- what westgate are you talking about? you can’t mean the one in lakewood #9 is correct, it DOES look like a slum area. and no, its just not on shabbos. there are garbage and toys littered throughout the entire development. the parking lots look like junkyards and the park area should be condemned. i dont understand how people dont take pride in their homes and neighborhoods and can just litter and throw toys everywhere. and its not just westgate- #3 is correct as well- its all over town. the town looks like a slum area except for 14th street where those residents take pride in their homes and keep them neat.
If the place looks like a slum to people, then it is a slum. I know what a slum, unkept property looks like. I see it all over town. This is new. Years ago the people had lots of children, but they had neighborhood and personal pride. They took care of their possessions and took care of their homes. Things are different now. Don’t be lazy. Walk out to the lawn and pick up the toys, bikes and junk and bring it in at night and it won’t be stolen.
you know whats funny, everyone said they heard from some one,,not one person saw this person on thier property, give the guy a break he only trying to pick a couple of bucks, and number 7 look around this is not NYC
#9…welcome to the new Lakewood, or Brooklyn south!
FYI This person is stealing from all of us! The township collects the bulk and separates the items for recycling that the township gets money for ( it goes toward our taxes) this person steals from the township and sells it to the recycling company for His/Her own profit.
TO: #9 June 15, 2011 at 11:03 am
The following is not an answer to your issue. However,
Try to compare OUR bein adam L’chaveiro and eidelkeit to THEIRS!!
There is NO comparison! So, if u would stop being so negative and pessimistic, TRY pointing out to your dear mom, that YES, we may have a weakness with certain neatness issues (I agree), however look at the pnimius and CALM THE HECK DOWN!
i agree with number 21
Besides for the main point that toys everywhere make a huge mess, I want to know if everyone is so wealthy that they don’t care to take care of their possesions. Leaving the toys out cause them to get rusty and otherwise get ruined.
And I’m sorry, but I raised 7 kids, KA”H, in Lakewood, and now I have, B”H, plenty of einiklach here, and I did not leave toys overnight. I didn’t want to have a messy lawn and I didn’t want to ruin toys as I didn’t have as much money as everyone today seems to have to replace toys. I took care of them and had some toys last through all my kids and now are used by neighbors and einiklach.
Keep Lakewood neat and remember the “pachim haketanim!’
I must say maybe this man is honestly going around collecting what appears to be junk and at that point is free to do whatever he wants with the stuff. Maybe if you didn’t leave your bikes, toys, strollers, etc by the curb him or anyone else wouldn’t mistaken it as garbage. not so long ago someone left their stroller by the curb and a couple thought it was garbage and took it and then had charges filed against them for stealing when in fact thought it was garbage and now they are sueing lakewood pd and maybe even lcsw for false aligations. so before you stuff is considered junk lock it up and put your stuff away at night!
to 23 School Teacher says:
June 15, 2011 at 9:24 pm
Sorry to tell you that all the toys that I leave strewn about are either from the flea market or the ‘free’ flea market (i.e. the garbage).
A) The reason that I get my toys from the above places is so that I need not worry about them….
B) The reason that I need not worry about my toys is because I get them from the above places.
Thanks for your concern. (but No-Thanks)
Ok I did see th,e license plates and confirmed they matched the plate numbers the children wrote down. When we saw the vehicle a few blocks away , the driver and passenger took off very fast.
Yes they walked up to the stoop of the house which is over 25ft from the curb and took bikes and scooters.
White older fellow, with a white gmc sienna pickup with a cap on the truck and a flat bed. He has been seen at the flea market. So he shopping and collecting with a defense “its just junk” -our toys, bikes, scooter and yes-strollers(we saw many on his truck) to possibly sell at the flea market. He is going around with someone else.
The plate numbers are mku-87a on the truck itself and on the trailer it’s t62-v5x. Many people called in the plates. At first the police department stated they did not have such registered plates. When it was confirmed again that the plate numbers were correct, we contacted the police again. The police officer called in the plates and only then it was clarified that indeed the plates are registered.
Sounds like dispatch kept on writing down the wrong plate numbers although they received a few phone calls from various people with the same info. This delayed catching them while they were circling the area blocks “collecting junk”
And guess what. No charges. No shock.
The only way the police will do anything is if everyone calls police and reports every week and every day these people are “shopping your toys and bikes” and saying it’s junk. The police will be forced to tell this individual to stop the excuses and maybe finally prosecute. It’s a shame but sometime public pressure by a build up of police reports will make the lpd realize that we as citizens want this Inc iDisk to stop stealing and stop allowing the excuses to be validated.
This happened in broad daylight and in front of many children
To #25. Guess what, while many of my toys were new, many were from the flea market too. The things we own are not hefker, no matter the original cost. Also you don’t address the main issue, which is the mess the toys make when left all around all the time.
I don’t need your thanks. My comments weren’t a suggestion. They were expressing surprise at the values that some people have.
To 29
I like cherry flavor. You like vanilla flavor.
I choose to be careless with my toys. You choose to be careless in other areas. Oh – or you must be perfect!
I like to use my money to buy new toys. You like to go on vacation.
Keep your suggestions.
I am pleasantly happy with my preferences. I dont feel like I am doing something wrong by being easy going in certain areas.
I am very sorry that we dont share the same choices of how to live in luxury.
I choose to live luxuriously by being carefree with my toys. You live luxuriously (perhaps) my getting a fancier car, or eating better food, or buying new clothes etc.
Keep teaching!!
Teach your children 2 things:
1-Respect what they own and are given
2-clean up after themselves