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ST. LOUIS — The crime was blatant: Hundreds of tires were flung from the back of a pickup into one north ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ alley over seven days.

City police caught on surveillance images of two men illegally dumping the tires from the back of a teal Ford F-150 into the alley in The Ville neighborhood six times from Feb. 2 through Feb. 8.

The alley, in the 4500 block of Maffitt Avenue, became lined with the tires, so soon investigators with the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ police Environmental Investigations Unit decided to take action.

The unit includes one full-time investigator, Detective Rick Zurmuehlen, and 10 to 15 other police officers who help track cameras placed in about 215 of the city’s alleys in an effort to prevent dumping and environmental hazards. The unit is tasked with addressing one of the city’s most intractable problems, and one that Mayor Lyda Krewson’s administration has worked to curtail.

To catch the tire-flingers, the unit sent an email to north ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ precinct officers with photos of the offenders and the pickup.

Within a week, on Feb. 9, officers pulled over the pickup less than a mile from the alley.

Police say they identified the men inside the truck as the two dumpers captured on camera, Jonathan Fisher and Mark Santanello, both of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

Detectives checked more traffic cameras in the 4800 block of Cote Brilliante Avenue, near where one of the men told officers a relative lived, and discovered the men also dumped tires in that area in January.

In all, the two face 26 municipal charges, including counts for illegal dumping. Fisher faces 14 counts, and Santanello was issued 12.

They could face a $500 fine and either a three-day jail sentence or 40 hours of community service for each case — typically picking up litter, Associate City Counselor Rick Sykora said Tuesday at a news conference in front of the Maffitt Avenue alley.

City workers removed the tires from the alley but by Tuesday other pieces of trash had already been strewn at the location.

Zurmuehlen said after the news conference that it wasn’t clear how or why the men got so many tires, but added he knows some businesses pay people to haul them away to avoid paying disposal fees.

“Dumping tires is terrible for the environment, and there’s a cost for businesses to have to recycle or get rid of them,� Zurmuehlen said.

Illegal dumping has been a longstanding problem in the city, and the subject of a Post-Dispatch series beginning in 2018.

Krewson spoke at the news conference and argued the prosecution of the two men reflects the progress her administration has made.

Krewson said illegal dumping may not be the top issue facing the city, but is nevertheless a “major quality-of-life issue.�

Her administration in 2018 launched the “Clean Up ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€� campaign, using a hike in trash fees from $11 a month to $14 to fund new trash trucks, a trash task force and the installation of 100 new alley surveillance cameras throughout the city to detect illegal dumping.

In addition to the alley cameras, the mayor’s office also created a program that rewards residents with $100 if information they provide on illegal dumping leads to a prosecution.

Krewson said the reward program so far has paid out “thousands.�

Illegal dumping citations have increased significantly since 2018, from 243 that year to more than 425 in 2020. More than half of last year’s citations have been adjudicated, the mayor’s office told the Post-Dispatch in January.

Still, the Post-Dispatch reported that trash complaints in the city in 2020 had risen to the highest level in a decade.

The city fielded over 13,000 trash complaints last year, up from a recent low of 8,600 in 2013.

The police Environmental Investigations Unit doesn’t get involved in the majority of trash complaints, but it focuses on cases where it might have photos from bystanders or surveillance images to help track offenders, Zurmuehlen said.

Krewson said improvements need to continue after the city’s next mayor, Tishaura Jones, is sworn in April 20, including the hiring of more trash truck drivers.

Krewson and police officials also encouraged residents to report illegal dumping to the Citizens' Services Bureau on the or by calling 314-622-4800 or emailing csb@stlouis-mo.gov.