NYPD Sergeant Identified as Brooklyn’s Compulsive Litterer
Residents in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, have reportedly taken it upon themselves to catch the perpetrator, who for four years ripped out pages of 1970s porn magazines, junk mail, children’s stories, Bibles and old Reader’s Digest pages from his car every Sunday had thrown. NYPD Sergeant John Trzcinski was identified and slapped for years of dumping excessive trash on Noble Street in April. Gothamist first reported.
Until then, the problem had only been noticed by the community green pointer reported the issue in January. “I have to alert those who haven’t witnessed this phenomenon with their own eyes to the sheer volume of papers floating across the street,” wrote Emmy Davey, a local resident, in the post. “It looks like the work of someone with a huge collection of old books who spends their weekend tearing pages apart before scattering them in the wind.”
Davey reported that the NYPD said it was investigating the incidents but was reportedly unable to confirm the suspect’s identity due to poor quality security footage. Back then, residents took it upon themselves to catch the compulsive garbage-maker and put an end to the weekly newspaper fire that blanketed their streets.
A series of events led police to Trzcinski, who had lived on Noble Street from 1989 to 2014 before relocating to Nassau County, Long Island. The discovery began when an unnamed resident readjusted her home security camera earlier this year to catch the perpetrator and was successful when she caught a person throwing papers out of a car window at 5:30 a.m
“I’m guessing he had a box in the passenger seat, filled up the baby and drove nice and slow – 15 miles an hour,” the resident said Gothamist. “I think he double-fisted once,” the local resident added, saying he saw bellboys being thrown out of cars on both sides of the street.
But it wasn’t until another unnamed local resident staked out the area that the car’s license plate number was confirmed, four neighbors told Gothamist. The sign identified Trzcinski as the perpetrator, which his sisters described as shocking. “He’s the guy who picks up trash off the street and doesn’t leave it there,” Trzcinski’s sister Ann told the outlet, adding, “He’s an environmentalist.” Trzcinski’s other sister Mary simply said, “That just doesn’t sound right after my brother.”
In response to the findings, public records reviewed by Gothamist revealed that Trzcinski had not received a subpoena from the sanitation board nor a fine that could range from $75 to $400. Instead, public records show that the only disciplinary measure Trzcinski received was the loss of a vacation day and he now works in the New York City Police Department.
Trzcinski’s motive for dumping thousands of pages on the street of his old home remains unclear, but local residents told Gothamist that no pages have appeared on the street since the officer was identified.
Gizmodo called Trzcinski for comment. An unidentified woman replied and threatened before abruptly hanging up.
