N.J. Pasta Dump Mystery Solved? Camera Might've Caught Culprit
Neighbors say they may have solved the mystery of who dumped nearly 500 pounds of pasta next to a stream in Old Bridge.
A Ring security camera caught a man in the neighborhood cleaning out uncooked pasta from his mother’s house after she died, said Nina Jochnowitz, the resident of the Middlesex County township who first posted photos of the pasta mess on social media last week.
The man, who neighbors said is a military veteran, came across the hoard of dry pasta and likely dumped it in the woods because of the sheer quantity, she said.
“There was so much of it, he was probably a bit overwhelmed,” said Jochnowitz, who had previously run for town council in Old Bridge’s sixth ward.
Jochnowitz said she’s been in contact with his family. But, she declined to name the man.
“I don’t want him to relive the trauma,” she said, referring to his military career and the death of his mother. “I certainly don’t think that it’s fair that the media gets this story out of somebody else’s woes.”
Town officials declined to comment on the possible identity of the pasta dumper.
“I cannot confirm it nor (do) I have any information from our police department,” Himanshu Shah, Old Bridge’s business administrator, said Friday.
Old Bridge police did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Last week, roughly 15 wheelbarrow loads of pasta were found along the creek in the residential neighborhood, officials said. It was illegally dumped in the area of Hilliard Road and Mimi Road, adjacent to the Iresick Brook.
Photos began circulating on several local Facebook groups and local police were contacted to investigate, officials said. The town’s Department of Public Works cleaned up the pasta, Shah said.
The piles of spaghetti and macaroni were likely tossed when they were dry and then began to soften when they were exposed to moisture and rain, Shah said.
Keith Rost, a neighbor who moved to the area last week, said some residents initially thought the mounds of pasta were hay. He visited the site himself and witnessed rain pouring down on the dry pasta.
Some neighbors were amused by the matter last week, Rost said.
“A little bit,” he said when asked if he thought it was funny. “But, I’m worried about the guy that was doing it.”
Jochnowitz, the resident who posted the initial photos of the incident on social media, said the pasta mystery turned out to have a sad ending and she hopes the attention on the area dies down soon.
“Ugh, the pasta story,” Jochnowitz said. “Can’t it be over yet?”
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