LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — After a concerned Lehigh Acres resident grew tired of seeing several illegally parked trucks in his neighborhood, he decided to start calling the Lee County Sheriff's Office about it.
According to Lee County ordinance, the driver of a semi truck parked on 22nd Street SW in Lehigh, a residential street, violates county ordinance.
It's a truck that Eric Englehart repeatedly reports to LCSO.
"I do not want Lehigh Acres to be the dumping zone for everybody to come out here," and Englehart added, "If they don't care, then let the street go, but you can't let all Lehigh Acres go."
Watch Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades report below:
When Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades took videos of the semi, the driver walked out from a home and told her he was moving his truck.
Rhoades asked, "You never got a citation before?".
"Yeah, when I was having the truck parked behind my house," the driver responded.
He declined to speak with Rhoades on camera, but he mentioned he parks his truck legally in a lot nearby.
Englehart said he regularly calls LCSO to report the violations and believes it's a public safety issue.
"You have 15 cars parked along the road, and you got a truck parked here. The ambulance can't get through. Your loved one doesn't make it. Your house burns to the ground," Englehart said.
The ordinance "prohibits the parking of commercial trucks in residential areas and on public right-of-ways."
Once LCSO issues a warning, citation or ticket, the truck can get towed.
It happened to another truck a few blocks from SW 22nd St.
Englehart said, "Weight limits on these trucks, they destroy our roads...This truck hasn't moved in three weeks."
As Rhoades took video of the second truck, LCSO showed up.
Deputies said they found two previous citations stuck in the driver's door.
LCSO said they've written 43 warnings and 13 citations in the last 30 days in the second precinct, not including this one.
Deputies continue to conduct regular patrols in residential areas in an attempt to deter parking-related issues county wide. As always, we encourage the public to call our non emergency line.
Englehart said he plans to keep calling in the trucks he spots parked illegally because he cares about the community.
"It's important for people's values to their homes and to the safety of their kids," he said.
