Crime scene commode? Toilet dumped on Riverside Avenue

Jun 12, 2023 | Government, Police & Fire, Transportation | 5

By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — It might not be the No. 1 crime committed in town over the weekend, but it was nervy.

Someone plopped a toilet down on the sidewalk of Riverside Avenue.

The white ceramic Crane Oxford, minus its tank, was hard to miss Sunday, perched prominently on the long stretch of sidewalk skirting an eastern edge of the Birchwood Country Club. It could be called vintage; the Crane name wasn’t used past 1984, when it merged with American Standard.

Toilets are sometimes illegally dumped because they’re not always easy to get rid of. Many transfer stations don’t take them because they’re ceramic.

Westport police said Sunday evening they didn’t believe the toilet had been reported yet. Asked if the town’s Public Works Department would have to haul it away, they said the state would have to do that because Riverside Avenue is a state road (Route 33).

It’s not the first unusual item dumped in the area recently. Just before Christmas, a 20-foot motorboat was dumped on the median of the Interstate 95 southbound Exit 17 ramp.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at [email protected]. Learn more about us here.