Newport Coast man investigated in diaper-dumping

A 67-year-old Newport Coast man is being investigated in a case that has mystified police for months – who is dumping dirty diapers along Pacific Coast Highway?

The reports of diaper dumping in Laguna Beach and neighboring Corona del Mar date back months, and in one case bicyclists reported having to swerve around the adult-sized items that had been left in the road.

But on Monday, detectives apparently got a break.

While setting up surveillance on North Coast Highway, police said, they discovered bags of diapers and found an envelope attached to the diapers that was addressed to a medical office in Fullerton.

An employee of the office, they discovered, lives in the Newport Coast area, police said in a statement.

On Tuesday night, officers said, they performed surveillance on the employee's home in a gated Newport Coast community, paying close attention to a Bentley and a Lexus parked in the garage.

At 10:45 p.m., police said, the man drove off in the Lexus toward Laguna Beach, where he made a quick U-turn near Irvine Cove and headed north. Detectives said they pulled the driver over and spotted a large bag of diapers in the passenger seat.

The unidentified man was not arrested, but police in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach are expected to present their case to the district attorney for possible prosecution for illegal dumping.

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-- Joanna Clay, TCN