TOLEDO, Ohio — A Lucas County grand jury has indicted multiple people on charges connected to an alleged tire dumping scheme, the Ohio Attorney General reported Tuesday.
According to a press release, Chad Gatter and Amanda Wagner, both of Toledo, face one count each of open dumping of solid wastes and transporting scrap tires without a registration certificate. Both are felony charges.
Gatter was previously charged with misdemeanor dumping in 2020 by the city of Toledo, according to officials.
A third person, Osama Al Awkati, is accused of causing another individual to transport scrap tires without the state-mandated registration certificate, for which he faces misdemeanor charges.
According to authorities, the scheme involved the illegal transport and dumping of scrap tires at a residential property owned by Gatter and Wagner. Investigators said they observed Gutter and Wagner as they collected scrap tires from tire shops and dumped them in their backyard. Gutter and Wagner also illegally profited by receiving cash for scrap tires collected from Awkati's car repair shop.
The indictments are part of an investigation launched by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Toledo police in 2022. The case was then referred to the Environmental Enforcement Unit of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The Ohio EPA has incurred $15,000 in costs to clean up the site, according to the agency's director, Anne Vogel.
Vogel said over 2,000 tires were removed from the same site in 2022.
“This property has been an eyesore and health hazard in this community for far too long,” she said. “Last year, we removed more than 2,000 tires from the site following reports from neighbors. We appreciate Attorney General Yost taking this enforcement action to hold the owners responsible and deter others from illegal dumping, which can create a fire hazard and attract unwanted insects and vermin.”
Toledo police chief Michael Troendle said the joint effort from local and state law enforcement was effective in combating blight and crime in the city.
