A furniture company employee’s decision to dump a used loveseat on residential property Tuesday has brought embarrassment to his employer and the potential for prosecution under Lyon County’s dumping ordinance.
Lyon County resident Tom Hamilton, who lives in the 1000 block of Road 190, said that he saw the furniture truck pull away from his driveway Tuesday afternoon. He soon noticed that a couch, lying upside-down with stuffing coming out, had been left near his driveway.
Hamilton used his cell phone to take photos of the truck and the dumped furniture. The photos are at right.
He called the Lyon County Sheriff’s office to make a report, then drove to Emporia and talked with an employee who told him the company “does not do business that way,” Hamilton said. He did not know the name of the man he spoke with, but Winter Furniture owner Dick Winter said this morning that he had spoken to Hamilton.
“We’re really sorry that happened,” Winter told a Gazette reporter this morning. “I don’t know why that decision was made to dump. ... We’re very much against that ourselves.”
Winter said the employee later said he had intended to go back and pick up the couch after other deliveries and pickups had been made.
“I told him he really gave us a stab in the back,” Winter said. “We’ve got Dumpsters out here. ... It wasn’t a big item, so it’s not like we couldn’t put that in the Dumpster.”
Larger items routinely are hauled to the dump, he said.
Winter said that the employee alleged to have done the dumping is a sales clerk for the store.
The employee returned to Hamilton’s house and picked up the loveseat, Winter said.
Lyon County Sheriff Gary Eichorn said that his officers are working on the case and information could be forwarded to the county attorney for consideration.
“I don’t think it’s Winter Furniture at all,” Eichorn said. “I think it’s one of their employees took a shortcut and didn’t want to go to the trouble to go to the dump.”
Eichorn said that his officers are continually trying to apprehend people who dump trash in the county.
“We’re constantly after people that are dumping,” he said. “We still go through trash to try to find identification.”
Hamilton suggested a remedy for people who dump trash at his and other county homes:
“The dump has two free dump days a year,” Hamilton said. “I use it.”
jackslap (anonymous) says...
They need to hang them.
July 25, 2007 at 2:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jackslap (anonymous) says...
on the other hand.... That old junk truck could be broke down.
July 25, 2007 at 2:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
The only thing Dick Winter is upset about is that his employee got caught. I can put money on that.
July 25, 2007 at 3:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
"Winter said the employee later said he had intended to go back and pick up the couch after other deliveries and pickups had been made."
Uh, right. Sort of like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar......
Anyway, KUDOS to Mr. Hamilton!
M
July 25, 2007 at 3:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Chiefster (anonymous) says...
Anybody who believes anything Hamilton says is an idiot. He must have thought he would get a reward....he'll do anything(legal or not) for a buck.
July 25, 2007 at 3:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
So, the Sheriff's Department is full of idiots?
Also, I didn't read anywhere that the employee denied it. Did you?
M
July 25, 2007 at 4:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
news_consumption (anonymous) says...
ROFLMFAO
July 25, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
siamesefred (anonymous) says...
I don't care what Mr. Hamilton's motivation was. The fact is people do dump their trash in the county and it's often difficult to track them down. In this case, it seems a resident was in the right place at the right time to figure out who was to blame and alert law enforcement.
I do know that the sheriff's office investigates when possible. But I doubt this couch had anything identifiable on it to track the owner.
I do remember a case several years ago when a plastic sack of trash was found. Officers went through it and found an envelope with a local name and address. They questioned the woman who agreed it was her bag of trash, but she'd last seen it when her roommate's boyfriend volunteered to take it to the dump for her.
Not every case is that easy. I applaud any county residents who care enough to alert officers.
July 25, 2007 at 7:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Mypoint (anonymous) says...
This is just another classic example of why you should not “shop Emporia first”. Why should I feel obligated to buy something locally at a higher price when the local companies will do anything they can to make a buck. Including breaking the law and helping to make Emporia a filthy town.
My biggest questions about this are..
1) How many times have they NOT been caught?
2) Does anyone really believe that the owner did not know this was happening?
3) How much did they charged the previous owner, of that sofa, to haul it away for them?
And finally, kudos to the landowner who exposed these dirty business practices. I for one will never buy anything from Winters trash service and I encourage everyone to decide for themselves if this is the type of business that they want to support.
July 25, 2007 at 8 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jasper007 (anonymous) says...
Been in Winter's Furniture ONCE, 12 years ago. Went during one of their BUY ONE GET ONE FREE Sales. Every salesperson (including owner) looked at me like I didn't belong. Haven't been back since. THANKS MR. WINTER!
July 25, 2007 at 8:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Doug (anonymous) says...
If it wasn't for the dirtbag lawbreakers, we wouldn't need law enforcement. So isn't it time for the fines to be raised to pay for law enforcement instead of taxes raised?
July 25, 2007 at 8:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
zoahjoe (anonymous) says...
What was the consequence for Winter's, just this article. No,fine?How about the employee? Really,impressed with the
Sheriff, so confident that this did not happen per Winter's direction.
This is and has been an ongoing problem with those who reside within the city limits.The closer your country property is to Emporia, the more you deal with this issue.
They dump household trash, old wrecked cars ( or push them in the river), pets that have become a burden.
This article shows the continued disconnect between, the town people and country people.
July 26, 2007 at 7:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
food4thought (anonymous) says...
Winter furniture should be fined and made an example of. We should not except this and shame them... I agree with mypoint I won't be back in that building again. Everyone should take a stand!!!
July 26, 2007 at 1:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jackslap (anonymous) says...
The piture above with the love seat looks like it just came off of the showroom.....
July 26, 2007 at 3:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jackslap (anonymous) says...
picture....... My bad...... Typing today is like thier funiture...... NOT GOOD :)
July 26, 2007 at 3:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
Why can not everybody use the dump? I use it about every two to three months for household trash. It costs about $2 per trip. My road is always littered with people from the highway throwing their trash out. We end up with stray pets all the time. Mostly from the highway and a lot of them get run over. It would be nice if the dump allowed people to take items such as that couch and if someone else wants it let them have it for free. They could make a special area for retrievable items.
July 26, 2007 at 4:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporialifer (anonymous) says...
Busted! Have to agree with all of you here that the delivery person was full of it with his "going to pick it up later" excuse - wow - that was bad!
Didn't Winter Furniture have a "Going out of business" sale like 5 years ago, oh and then again 4 years ago and then 3 and then 2, etc.?!
July 30, 2007 at 1:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
disappointed (anonymous) says...
I agree with Mypoint why not just buy everything from Wal-Mart and anything we cannot buy there goto Topeka or Wichita....it isn't our problem what gets thrown into their ditches...
August 1, 2007 at 12:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )