The Mableton trash bomber has struck again.
Friday, a bag of shredded paper hit Mableton Parkway "near the new fire station." Another confetti dump occurred June 15 on Nickajack Road, according to posts on the Mableton Improvement Coalition Community Facebook group.
The mystery began about six years ago, residents say, when a persistent litterbug began cutting up paper and stuffing the tiny pieces into plastic grocery bags. These bags are tossed from the roadway and “explode” on a person’s lawn or the street, Smyrna resident Dan Colestock said. His neighborhood has experienced these bombs on numerous occasions.
“They have been doing it that way for years,” he said of the perpetrator’s method of attack.
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Colestock said the areas targeted appear to be neighborhoods around Mableton Parkway and Concord, Austell, Hurt and Nickajack roads. The fact that someone has kept up this behavior for so long indicates the person could be “very angry about something,” Colestock said.
Christina Lynn, who has lived in the Barnes Mill subdivision since 2007, also believes someone is “trying to make a point” with their antics. Lynn said she sees evidence of the trash bomber’s work each week around her subdivision. She initially thought it was someone’s idea of a “demented” art project. Even though she sees it regularly, Lynn said she’s stumped because there doesn’t appear to be a consistent pattern of where the trash tosser decides to strike.
“I think it’s more than a prank,” she said. “They would have gotten tired of it by now.”
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Wayne Beyea, a retired New York State police officer living in Mableton, believes the perpetrator lives in the area and gets a thrill out of their behavior. He thinks at least two people are behind the incidents since it appears the bags are being tossed from the right side of a vehicle.
“They are looking for attention,” he said.
Cobb County police spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk said residents haven’t reported any trash bombings in the Mableton area. The person who is caught unleashing these bags would be at least charged with littering, Delk said, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum $1,000 fine.
Colestock said a couple of people in the area have also offered rewards to help catch the person creating these nuisances. Since these incidents have been happening for years, Colestock is convinced “someone knows what’s going on.”
Beyea said he hopes his neighbors will remain alert to their surroundings and keep an eye out for someone driving slowly in a neighborhood early in the morning or hoarding a large number of circulars or newspaper inserts. If the trash bombs continue, Beyea said residents may start a community watch program.
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