Dump & Runs: Dawn patrol tracks the serial dumper

A file photo from the piles dumped on Tuesday.

Maybe I’ve been watching too much “Dexter” lately. I might have given the serial dumper too much credit. Oh, he’s definitely a serial dumper. And he’s certainly ballsy. But I don’t think he’s as cheeky as I’ve made him out to be. Specifically, I don’t think he’s been rigging up the caution tape around the piles he’s been leaving lately in some of the most scenic new parts of Guangzhou. A correction or clarification is in order for Waffles & Steel.

I say this because on Wednesday morning we discovered another dump-and-run pile in the same general spot – close to the TV Tower, the city’s newest landmark. We found it just as two guys in an official white city government pick-up truck were leaving the scene. Caution tape had already been neatly strung up around the pile of debris, stuffed into heavy duty burlappy white nylon bags. It seems like the guys in the pickup were on dawn patrol, searching for fresh piles and calling them in to clean-up crews.

The dawn patrol guys were getting into their truck when I whipped out my camera to shoot a photo of the mound. They saw me do this and quickly got out of the truck. It looked like they were getting ready to stop me from shooting. That’s when I realized that the last time I uploaded photos to my computer, I forgot to stick the memory card back into my camera. I put the camera back into my jersey pocket and said to the men, “Who’s doing this? I’m seeing these piles almost everyday.” One of them grumbled back, “Some really bad person is doing it. Yes, it’s happening almost everyday.”

It’s interesting how efficient and vigilant they’ve become. When the Asia Games start in the fall, Guangzhou simply can’t tolerate dump and runs.