Toxic Waste Hidden in City Trash Truck

So you need to get rid of 150 drums of toxic waste in a hurry. Why not swipe a Los Angeles city trash truck, load it with all that dangerous stuff and leave it in the municipal sanitation yard?

Federal authorities arrested a roofing company owner and a city trash truck driver on Friday and accused them of doing exactly that.

Van Fuhriman, 59, owner of Facilities Services Corp. in East Los Angeles, and Alfred Vallejo Jr., 45, of Eagle Rock were charged with conspiracy and violations of hazardous-waste laws.

Prosecutors said Vallejo took the truck from the city yard in Sun Valley on Aug. 11, 2001, and drove it to Fuhriman’s business, where he, Fuhriman and Fuhriman’s employees loaded the drums aboard the vehicle.

Vallejo drove back to the yard, parked it and walked away, $500 richer for his labors, according to authorities.

Later that day, another city employee noticed suspicious liquids leaking from the truck. Specialists in hazardous materials were summoned, and an investigation was launched by the multi-agency Los Angeles Federal Environmental Task Force.