MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Allan Bartley was skimming leaves from his pool when he heard a garbage truck out front followed by a loud crash.
"I dropped what I was doing and I ran out of the gate," Bartley, a 57-year-old rental property manager, said.
When he got to his driveway, Bartley said he saw a white garbage truck racing away and then noticed that his truck was damaged, with the hood popped out and bent upward and a cracked headlight frame.
"Why didn't he stop? Why didn't he put a note on it?" Bartley said. "He couldn't get out of here fast enough."
Bartley had no idea, but he was about to go on an 18-month odyssey in which he would experience what he calls terrible public service by Miami-Dade County, a crooked investigation by the county's Solid Waste Management and denials by everyone from the driver on up the chain.
Even though it was just an old truck and he only used to carry yard debris that had little more than $1,000 worth of damage, Bartley wound up spending what he said are hundreds of hours trying to prove his case.
He said he simply wouldn't give up until he finds justice.
When Bartley first surveyed the damage and heard the truck barreling away, he said he considered going after the garbage truck to confront the driver, but he decided instead to go inside and call Miami-Dade County to report what he said was a clear hit-and-run by the garbage truck driver.
It happened on Friday, May 29, 2015.
That Monday, a county Solid Waste Management supervisor named Grady Hall visited his home and took photos of the damage, which was estimated at about $1,200.
Hall wrote in his report that Bartley was pointing the finger at a private recycling company that services the area.
"He told me he that he think [sic] the recycle truck did it," Hall wrote.
Bartley said he told Hall no such thing. He said he only knew it was a white truck. Hall also wrote that Bartley told him it was the blue recycling can that had been moved in front of the truck. Again, Bartley said that wasn't true -- it was a green county can.
The garbage truck driver, Denvil Mair, meanwhile denied he remembered anything happening that day.
"I Denvil Mair don't recall hitting any vehicle," Mair wrote. "However, when something do happens [sic] I always call dispatch and supervisor soon after."
Bartley said other county officials, when they weren't ignoring his phone calls, also blamed the private recycling company. Then a month later, on July 10, he received a letter from a county liability claims investigator named Suyin Amargos denying his claim.
"Please be advised that our solid waste truck driver was interviewed and denied causing damages to your vehicle," wrote Amargos, before advising Bartley to contact the private recycling company.
"They kept trying to pin it on them," he said.
Bartley said at the time he really wasn't sure which entity was responsible, but weeks later learned that the recycling trucks are blue, ruling them out. County trucks are white, matching the description of the truck that did the damage. He also said he clearly told county employees the truck was white, so they should have known all along. Instead, he said that fact was ignored by the county workers.
Bartley said he tried to convince Mair to come clean.
"He said, 'Listen, nothing will happen. They won't do anything,'" Bartley said. "He said, 'They may write me up, but nothing will come of it.'"
So he decided to conduct the investigation he felt the county should have done in the first place.
"I thought, 'OK, video's good.' Let's see if I can't catch him on video,'" Bartley said.
Bartley, a duck hunter, camouflaged himself and got behind the bushes with a video camera. While his work causes him to travel often, he said that while he was home he considered himself on duty.
"It took several times for me to catch him doing all kinds of things," he said.
The ensuing video shows the garbage truck rushing through the neighborhood and doing something no sanitation worker is ever supposed to do -- picking up the receptacle with the robotic arms, and while it's being emptied, continuing to move forward before dropping it down the road.
It's known as traveling a container, and it's strictly forbidden because it's unsafe.
Bartley caught him doing that several times, including traveling his container over his truck, the exact conduct he believes caused the damage to his truck. In one video, the truck comes rushing into view and crashes into Bartley's green county container, sending it across the driveway, prompting Mair to hurriedly get out and move it back into place.
"He's obviously out of control," Bartley said. "He's going way too fast in these neighborhoods."
What Bartley didn't know was that during the past two years there have been no fewer than 24 complaints filed by residents against Mair, according to county records. One after another alleging he drives too fast, that he picks up their containers and carries them down the road, strewing the containers and garbage on driveways and lawns.
One complaint alleged his "excessive speeding" damaged the swale and left skid marks on a driveway.
One resident, Bonnie Daniels, complained Mair did a "terrible job" leaving her container on its side in her driveway with "garbage all over the place."
"The truck driver never stops when he (picks up) the container," a resident named William Calvo complained of Mair. "He always puts it down next door. Today he hit the recycle container, all of the recycling material fell in the front yard and (he) left (it). He is crazy."
When contacted this week, Calvo said his complaints about Mair fell on deaf ears. He said Mair picks up his container and, while moving it down the road, breaks large branches from his landscaping.
"It is unbelievable," Calvo said. "This guy is a hot rod. He's like a race car driver with that thing. I'm scared that he is going to hit the mailbox."
Anna Lopez is another of the many complainants about Mair.
"He does everything in three seconds," she said of the driver. "He goes too fast. The garbage is left all over the road."
A county Solid Waste Management supervisor named Malcolm Miller, over and over again, said in the reports that he will speak with Mair and remind him to take his time and follow the rules. But despite the continuous complaints, there is no record of Mair ever having been being reprimanded.
When Local 10 News began asking questions about the case and provided Bartley's videos, the county reopened the investigation, according to a written statement, found that a GPS report for Mair's garbage truck on the day of the hit-and-run showed that the waste truck was "in the vicinity of Mr. Bartley's residence approximately 30 minutes prior to the resident's call ... to report property damage."
It continues: "While we cannot say conclusively that the driver's operation of the vehicle was responsible for the property damage, the department has made the decision to assist the homeowner by asking Risk Management to revisit the homeowner's property damage claim."
On the same day that statement was sent to Local 10, Bartley received a call from the risk management liability investigator, Amargos, who informed him that the county was going to pay to repair his truck. Bartley said he was happy to finally see some justice.
The county also reviewed Bartley's videos -- and again, it didn't reprimand Mair.
"The driver will be enrolled in a refresher training course to ensure that he operates his vehicle safely and efficiently and adheres to all departmental policies and procedures for properly servicing waste carts," the county said in a statement to Local 10. "Thank you for bringing these concerns to our attention. The safety of our residents and the protection of both private and public property are priorities in our waste collection operation."
Despite the numerous complaints, the video evidence, Bartley's testimony, other evidence and the department's own pledge to pay Bartley's claim, waste department senior division director Gayle Love said the department is in no way taking responsibility for the damage.
Bartley said he's not surprised.
"The county is like pulling teeth and it's impossible," he said. "All the avoidance, the lack of contact, there was never any real fair play or reputable professionalism. As far as the county is concerned, I couldn't be more disappointed."