Trailer dumping in Charlotte County leads to arrest

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Trailer Dump
Credit: Charlotte County Sherriff’s Office

A man faces charges after a sequence of events involving illegal dumping and a false police report in Placida on Sunday.

Around 5 p.m., a Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a report of a large pile of trash and a trailer stuck in the mud on Pipefish Court. A witness described seeing a truck pulling another truck from the mud before both vehicles left the scene, leaving the trash and trailer behind.

Later that day, Andrew Robert Samuel Cowan reported the trailer stolen from his residence in Englewood.

During the investigation, deputies discovered items in the trash with shipping labels matching the trailer’s registered owner. The owner confirmed loaning the trailer to Cowan, who was informed beforehand about the trash that needed to be discarded.

The investigation revealed that Cowan had dumped the trash and gotten the trailer stuck. He borrowed a truck to retrieve it, but the trailer had been towed away by the time he returned.

He then falsely reported the trailer as stolen.

Detectives located Cowan at his workplace, where he confessed to the illegal dumping and false report. Authorities arrested him and transported him to the Charlotte County Jail.

Sherrif Bill Prummell made a statement on the incident.

“We take illegal dumping very seriously because that is something that takes away from the beauty of Charlotte County,” said Prummell. “We are so blessed to be here in paradise, and my deputies will continue to work hard to keep our community free of this type of eyesore. There is no excuse good enough for attempting to turn the place we all live, work and play into your own personal dump.”

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