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Residents in Mantua Township say someone is dumping used diapers on side of road

'It's just nasty and there's so many.' Portage County Sheriff's deputies are stepping up patrols to try to catch the culprit.

MANTUA, Ohio — Neighbors in Mantua Township say it's a quiet, farming town, where everyone is treated with respect. But along Chamberlain Road, there's nothing respectful about this: Used diapers strewn about the side of the road and in yards. 

Residents on a Portage County Facebook page reported the diaper dumpings in several places around town.

"People are really getting aggravated with it because it's just nasty and there's so many, it's so much of it. And it's dirty," said Mary Gould, who lives in the neighborhood.

Cory Smith says he's been dealing with the diaper dilemma for two years. 

"Very unusual that somebody is dumping this many diapers, specifically diapers, out on the road," Smith said.

Now, he may have a lead. On January 1, his home surveillance camera caught a white car tossing something out on Chamberlain Road between Pioneer and Remington Pointe. Smith says he understands the jokes, but the cleanup isn't funny.

"Please stop doing it. If you see this, go pick 'em up. Do us a service and realize your mistake, your actions, not so good actions, and just pick 'em up," Smith said.

The Portage County Sheriff's Office says, while this isn't a high-priority crime, they are stepping up patrols to see if they can catch the culprit.

"Sometimes you can look at something on the surface and think that it's just illegal dumping or littering and, you know, it could be a minor misdemeanor, misdemeanor, but then you get somebody in here and it can evolve into something else," said Captain Lew Finsen, with the Portage County Sheriff's Office's Detective Bureau.

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