I am sad to report, that so far, nobody has been officially identified as the culprit.
Perhaps nobody ever will be.
I visited the dirt pile today (11-15-07) and it is still there.
The homeowner emailed me recently to say that the police are no longer investigating the case. Mt. Juliet Police confirm that is the case.
You’ll remember the dirt pile story where a Mt Juliet woman arrives home only to find a 7 foot wide, 5 foot high pile of dirt dumped on her front yard. The pile crushes her new sod, while taking up at least a 1/4 of her front yard.
The woman was horrified that someone would be so bold as to drive up to her home in the middle of the day and dump a load of dirt on her property.
At the time, I spoke with neighbors who claim they saw the dump truck that did it.
The neighbors even told me they knew who did it, but they couldn’t prove it.
But as we all know, thinking you know who did it and proving who did it are two different things.
Mt. Juliet Police can’t arrest people unless they have proof.
Below is a letter written to me from the home owner:
Thanks Andy, the police called me yesterday to say they dropped the investigation because lack of evidence that it was a crime. One neighbor told them they saw a dump truck with a “K” in the name dump the dirt, but the only company with a K denies delivery to my house. (the man neighbors suspect) denies it. The officer did say that some of his comments were suspicious but not enough to convict. Neighbors have reported seeing him frequently in the neighborhood.
When police conduct a day labor sting targeting undocumented workers who loiter in front of the Jack in the Box on Murfreesboro road, the men in blue call it a quality of life issue.
The officers share with me numerical data that indicates this is one of the busiest crime zones in the entire Hermitage precinct.
Would you want your wife or daughter to walk through this gauntlet of a dozen or more men to get a breakfast biscuit?, they ask me.
Because the answer to this question is often NO, many patrons bypass this restaurant for a morning biscuit. When you bypass this Jack in the Box because you might not feel comfortable, that means the business is losing money.
This is quality of life.
But it’s also quality of life for the men who stand in this cold parking lot 1,000’s of miles from their native lands, from their children and loved ones.
After these undocumented workers take off the cuffs and stuff their criminal trespassing citations into their back pockets, they begin the long walk back to the Jack in the Box. In broken English and sad puppy dog eyes, they tell me they stand on this corner to make money, to send back home. I watch as the men, in drab clothing and hats pulled low over their eyes, walk into a rising sun, only to merge back into the complicated financial and political landscape that is at the heart of this issue.
It is a chilly Thursday morning as the raid goes down. I watch as these men from Mexico and Guatemala push each other out of the way trying to squeeze into the back of a tiny Toyota Camry.
The officer behind the wheel is posing as a contractor. The men cram themselves into the car like mystery meat being shoved into a sausage. The officer drives the men around the corner, into the waiting arms of flex officers who begin checking identifications and criminal histories.
Officer Russ Ward is linebacker big. His shoulders are broad, like a barn. His are arms solid like IBM stock.
He is so big, that his hulking frame barely fits behind the wheel of the tiny Toyota Camry he is driving.
Wearing a wireless microphone, we can hear the Hermitage Sector cop pull into the parking lot behind the Mapco at the corner
of Murfreesboro Road and Thompson Place.
“Paint. Paint,” Ward says.
I watch as more than a dozen men run toward the undercover officer’s open window.
The words are like raw meat to a mountain lion. The scent of “Trabajo Y dinero” thick in the air.
“11 an hour,” Ward says as men push each other out of the way trying to get close to the tiny car.
“I need five,” he says.
By this time, Hispanic men with little or no documentation are in full sprint, lunging for his car doors.
I watch as four men pile into the back seat. Two more men climb into the passenger seat in the front. It looks like a clown car at the circus there are so many body parts sticking out.
“Six is good,” the officer says as the men manage to squeeze the 3 doors shut.
The car drives a few blocks down the street. From behind all you can see are hats and dark shadows and moving body parts.
The car is riding low as it moves toward the gauntlet of truth.
As I turn into the new subdivision in Mt. Juliet, just off of Lebanon Road, I see the mound.
It is five feet high and easily 7 feet wide.
As I draw closer to the brand new home, the mountain of dirt fills up my front windshield.
“Holy …!” I say, my words trailing off.
I park and get out of the news vehicle. I pop the trunk and grab my camera.
I begin shooting the mountain of dirt that literally stretches from the woman’s front stoop, across her front yard, spilling over onto the sidewalk. As is often the case, my arrival generates looky loo’s and inquisitive stares from neighbors.
The air is cold and the wind is blowing strongly. The sun is low in the autumn sky and the dirt mound is casting a long shadow across the front lawn mostly composed of sod. The sun is so brilliant all I see on my lens is a bunch of water spots that cast a film over the video like the dirt mound has the measels.
Why are there so many dots on my lens, I think to myself. I remember the storm from Wednesday night where I suddenly transform from soccer dad to live shot guy at the local soccer field.
I wipe my lens and refocus on the home in the Ravens Crossing sub division. It is elegant and modern. It has nice lines and is well maintained. It belongs to Pam Wood. Pam is away on business, so on this day, her cousin Madeline Erwin has agreed to do the interview.
“She came home from work late at night and she drives up and sees this dirt pile in her front yard. And she is sick. She is sick!” Erwin says, pushing her long brown bangs out of her face.
I ask who could do this and why.
The woman has her suspicions, but she admits they are just that.
“This is intimidation,” she says. “The person who I think did this is full of intimidation, and he has not been able to intimidate myself or my cousin.
She tells me that Mt. Juliet Police are aware of the pile as is the Wilson County District Attorney. I call the police who tell me that they are taking this vandalism seriously, but at this time, no one has surfaced as a definitive suspect.
“I am angry,” Erwin says, her words being swept away by a fierce gust of wind. “There is no reason for this. None at all!”
Next door Neighbor Barbara Manners joins the fray. Barbara is an older woman with white hair and glasses. She tells me that she saw the culprits, but she didn’t pay close enough attention to see a driver face or remember a company logo on either of the two trucks.
“The dump truck pulled up the street backed up quickly and dumped it quickly. It was all boom boom in five minutes. I was wondering why Pam had ordered all this dirt in her front yard.”
It turns out that Pam never ordered any dirt, and what Mrs. Manners had unknowingly witnessed is now considered a crime by the Mt. Juliet Police.
“it ruins the whole neighborhood”, she says as she turns from the $330,000 dollar home with the five foot high pile of dirt.
As a joke, there is a sign in the front yard. The sign reads: Free Dirt.
“To find some humor in the situation,” Erwin tells me.
If you have any leads, you are urged to contact the Mt. Juliet Police Dept.
In the meantime, the victims are getting estimates for removal of the dirt.
Good News: 11-09-07
Willie Just called and said that the Department of Education in Washington D.C. is taking care of the problem. Willie says the ombudsman who worked his case apologized and told him he shouldn’t be getting any more harrassing phone calls or letters. Willie thanked That Is Messed Up for getting involved.
This is one story that I am very pleased ended well.
Below is the original story:
Wearing coveralls and a freshly laundered dress shirt, 82 year old Willie J. Young walks me around his expansive property surrounded by trees and grass.
Willie’s hair is white as is a thin mustache he wears above his lip.
As we walk around his property, he calls to his dog, Lady, in a nearby pen.
“Hey Lady, Hey Girl.”
The dog barks a happy yelp.
Willie is a father of four. He is a grand father. He has been married to his lovely wife Lucille for more than 50 years. On this day as we stand in his back yard, next to a home he mostly built himself, there is a gentle breeze. I can feel the warmth of the sun shining down on a devout family man whose life has traversed 9 decades.
“There is no mortgage,” he says referencing his home. “Never been a mortgage. I started from scratch. I built the footing. I lived out here when my oldest son was 8, that was some 43 years ago.”
As Willie tells me about his life, he gestures frequently, his large hands pointing out various items that fall into his field of vision.
I became aware of Cross Cut Tree Service in early September. That is when I stumble into a massive brush pile on the side of Fairbanks Road in the Goodlettsville area.
Several residents tell me that Cross Cut Tree Service left the brush there.
The ower of the home tells me she thought the fee she paid included disposal. Cross Cut Co-Owner, Mark Campbell tells me that the contract clearly stated disposal would cost the home owner more money, and she opted to let the city dispose of the waste.
The Department of Public Works tells me that they will remove shrubs from the side of the road for a single homeowner, but it is the responsibility of a commercial tree cutter to remove this amount of debris.
After Messed Up gets involved, Cross Cut removes the brush pile.
On September 24TH I get a call from a woman in East Nashville, who alleges that Cross Cut work crews just dumped a dump truck load of debris on the side of the road.
“they shouldn’t have done it,” Francis Howse tells me. The woman lives on Douglas and North Sixth and says the pile is an eye sore.
“What did you think?,” I ask. “That’s crazy,” she responds staring at the brush. “They need to come back here and pick it up”
Nova Glenn also live on the street. She tells me that she contracted the tree service to top her trees. She says the company didn’t complete the job and they dumped a load beside her home. She took pictures of the work crews allegedly unloading the truck.
“I looked out the door and Cross Cut was here dumping this debris. I said hold up this is not a dump area. “I have no doubt is was cross cut tree service. I have pictures. I took pictures on my digitial camera”
Glenn shares the photos with me. They show 2 men working around the debris. The pictures also clearly show a Cross Cut work truck.
“I said hold up this is not a dump area the first thing they told them was come on let’s go. The other guy said i’ll be back with another load.”
Because of the danger to motorists, Metro Public Works puts up a barrier. The next day they will come by at tax payer expense and clean up the dump site.
I call Mark Campbell on the phone and ask him about the dumping incident on North 6th and Douglas.
Campbell does not deny it. In fact he tells me that the woman there owes him 13-hundred dollars, and he claims she didn’t pay.
Of course the woman claims the job was never completed, and the police tell news 2 that company officials tried to get the woman to pay up front in cash, which made her uncomfortable.
According to Campbell; “I was going to bring all the logs and brush back to her property and dump it if she didn’t pay. She said, do what you got to do, so that is exactly what my crews did. I’m not playing, my family is starving”
On October 24th Messed Up cameras go with Metro Public Works and a Detective with the East Precinct.
The city officials are armed with Misdemeanor arrest citations for Cross Cut owners Frank Cross and Mark Campbell. The charges include Littering and Obstruction of a roadway.
We arrive to find a Cross Cut truck in the driveway. The detective bangs ont he door, but nobody answers. The detective is suspicious. There is noise in the house, which has video cameras at the front and rear entrances.
“we have done some investigations they have several complaints thru the bbb them not completing service or taking shrubs away and taking cash and not completing the work at all,” Det Jeaninne Hale tells me.
While here, a numer of family relatives and friends arrive. The detectives ask where company officials can be found.
There is a lot of banter, but the common theme seems to be that their phones have recently been disconnected and Mark Campbell is no longer and member of the company.
Again the detective is skeptical, but with no one to serve a warrant on, she hands the matter over to the Metro Police Warrants division,.
According to the BBB Cross Cut has 16 complaints in the last 36 months. Kathleen Calligan, president of the Middle Tennessee BBB says the tree company has been placed on a list of company’s that people should not do business with.
It’s a chilly morning and Diane Mabry is wearing a large sweater.
“My fear is that someone will be killed,” the mother tells me pointing to her neatly manicured yard and Tudor style home on Pebble Creek Drive.
“If it’s rainy or damp, they hit the hump right there and lose control.
Just then a car speeds up the hill and around the curve. She motions for the car to slow down and yells at the motorist who is busy talking on a cell phone.
A Confederate Flag flies prominently in the front yard of this Middle Tennessee neighborhood. To some it represents racism. To others it salutes history. What do you think? Wednesday October 31st at 5pm, Andy Cordan examines the issue on THAT’S MESSED UP.
But you can voice your opinion now.
Greg Forest is a black man who lives in the Stonehenge subdivision in Lavergne.
The 31 year old is upset because a neighbor down the street has erected a flag pole and hoisted a Confederate Battle Flag.
“Well first of all I find it offensive,” the resident of six years tells me.
“I have to look at it every morning When I come home from work,” he says in a soft spoken tone.
“Why does he have to put up a big flag pole up that high and what is the statement behind this flag?” he asks me.
There is a stiff, cool breeze on this October morning and the Rebel Flag is totally unfurled.
“What does it say to you as a black man?” I ask.
“It is racist to me. I’m not going to lie to you that’s all we know. I don’t see nothing else out of it. ”
“What are the images in your heart and mind when you see that based on the history of the USA?”
“Hatred. The KKK. Slavery.”
Forest is emotional as he says the words.
If I put a NAACP flag or a big Malcolm X flag in my yard, wouldn’t I get a lot of attention? Someone will call on me. I want to know what is the statement behind it. If he had it on the side of the house, it wouldn’t be as big an issue, but he had to plant it high, in the middle of his yard, like it is an official flag on a Capitol Building.”
“Have you ever knocked on his door?”
“No,” he says calmly. “I don’t hate him. I don’t know the people who live there. I won’t knock on his property, because I don’t want to offend him.”
I also speak with Mary Smith. Smith is a 55 year old black woman who tells me she has lived in this neighborhood for 7 years.
Mary is also very troubled by the Rebel Flag flying high above her neighborhood.
“It is offensive to me. I keep kids at my house. Their parents said to me, are you going to let something like that come up in your neighborhood? You know what it stands for.”
Like Forest, Smith tells me that she doesn’t know the man who lives in the small house where the flag is.
“It may stand for peace,” she says. “But In my heart, it is racial. He has it so high. If it was on his porch, sticking out, it wouldn’t draw attention.” » Continue Reading
Pallets move the world. Just about everything you can think of is shipped on a wooden pallet.
It’s what happens with those pallets after they move the world that has some people concerned.
When your cereal and cream of wheat and rice-a-roni is put on the shelves, that’s when pallets are stacked behind a business.
Pallets are a commodity. Each pallet has a value. Because a wooden pallet can be recycled for a few dollars apiece, Metro Police say many pallets are stolen.
Some times the pallet pirates secure their load properly. Many times the pallets are thrown haphazardly into the back of a pick up truck and driven down the highway.
Metro Officer Andy Elkins has seen many pallet loads spill into the street. He calls them wooden missiles just waiting to fly off a flat bed and through your mini van’s windshield.
“The law is clear. Any time you transfer something. You are responsible for securing the load. If it breaks. You are responsible.
Pallets weighs 25 pounds or 30 pounds. It comes through your windshield and it could cause death and that is seriously messed up.” » Continue Reading
Janis Bobier has the energy that Messed Up likes in its interview subjects.
She is eloquent and expressive.
In a nutshell, the 44 year old had a wedding to attend in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Don’t get me started on Mexico. Sunshine, Tequila, beaches.
Anyway, she and her husband George are about 8 weeks out and their travel agent tells them, rather strongly, that they should go through a passport expediter to help make sure they get their paper work in and their passports on time. » Continue Reading
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