Parolee Arrested on Suspicion of Cocaine Possession

Deputies from the of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department arrested a Pasadena man Thursday after a resident spotted him rifling through the recycling, authorities said.

The suspect, Corey Bailey, 41, allegedly removed recyclable items from a La Cañada resident’s bin about 9 a.m. on Viro Road, near Kurst Street, Sgt. Ray Harley said Friday. The bin was curbside at the time. Harley pointed out the city’s municipal code prohibits this kind of recyclable removal because the items are headed to a recycling center, and that leads to loss for the company and the hauler.

Often times vagrants and people who recycle for a living will raid people’s recycling bins “and that’s a monetary loss’’ to the city, he said.

According to the city's municipal code for solid waste and removal, scavenging is prohibited. "Unless otherwise authorized by the city in writing, recyclable materials may not be removed from such location by anyone other than an authorized recycling agent(s).

The state requires a minimum of 50% waste collected be recycled, and if someone else takes that away before haulers from Athens Services or Allied Waste pick it up and record it, the city loses that credit, said Mary Goytiastrauss, senior management analysist for La Cañada's depratment of public works.

"We know people make a living this way, but this is the other side of the story,'' she said.

Still, Thursday's alleged plastics pilfering fell into the inconsequential bin when deputies allegedly found narcotics in Bailey's car. Deputies arrested Bailey on suspicion of possessing cocaine and narcotics paraphernalia, Harley said.

Bailey, who is on parole and therefore being held without bail, will be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday, Harley said.