Work Crew Dumps Debris on Woman's Lawn... Even Though They Brought Dump Trucks

Sometimes government workers complain that they can't do their jobs because they lack the proper tools.

But in this instance, the tools seem to be all there — they just go unused.

The city of Des Moines apparently dispatched police cruisers and several unnecessary construction vehicles to accomplish a dubious mission: dumping a bunch of debris on an elderly woman's lawn.

As WHO-AM's Simon Conway put it:

As you can see - this crew was very thorough. Sweeping and clearing this fallen limb. Lifting debris into the air and then they had two choices! Put it into the bed of the dump trucks, or dump it onto the Private Citizen's front lawn. They chose the latter.

Conway said the city had not responded to a request for comment Monday.

The actions of the crew seem pretty baffling — why bring dump trucks and not use them?

"[T]hey brought dump trucks and a claw to move the remainder of the debris pile onto my neighbor's yard -- and then left," wrote the video poster Danny Bishop. "What is striking about these images is the effort that goes into raking, sweeping and blowing leaves and branched from the between the sidewalks, but workers have the audacity to dump a ton of tree parts in this lady's front yard."

While Conway and Bishop were critical of the city's approach, at least one Internet denizen seemed to side with Des Moines.

"Its [sic] her tree, would it be alright for them to just show up and cut the tree down and haul it off before the storm blew it into the street," wrote one YouTube commenter. "[P]art of being a home owner is being responsible for your property, your tree your mess your problem..."

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Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter