Charges Dropped in Recycling Case

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office will not prosecute a Sun Valley man cited by police for taking newspapers out of recycling bins in Northridge.

City attorney spokesman Mike Qualls said there was insufficient evidence to charge Roger Bird, 43, with the misdemeanor offense he was alleged to have committed Aug. 28.

Qualls said the case could not be prosecuted because the people whose discarded newspapers were seen being loaded onto Bird’s truck told police they had given Bird permission to take them. Additionally, the newspapers were not in an official city of Los Angeles recycling bin.

At the time of the arrest, police officers dubbed Bird “the scavenging kingpin of the Valley” who allegedly told them he earned $800 to $1,200 a week by taking newspapers from the bins.

Los Angeles police assigned to a new anti-scavenging unit said they had tied Bird to more than 50 incidents across the San Fernando Valley.

When police warned Bird, he allegedly told them he had permission from residents to take their newspapers.

The special police unit was formed because scavengers are taking an estimated $2 million worth of recyclables a year from the city-run program, which is supposed to support itself on the money brought in by selling the material to scrap dealers.