Massachusetts

DJ Pauly D Concert Ticket Found by Angry Citizen Solves Couch-Dumping Mystery at Mass. State Park

The ticket was discovered by a Spencer resident so angered and upset by the furniture dumped off the side of the road in Howe State Park that he decided to do something about it

Police were able to track down a man believed to have dumped a couch and mattress in a state park in Spencer, Massachusetts, all thanks to a ticket for a "Jersey Shore" star Pauly D concert discovered inside the couch.

The ticket was discovered by a Spencer resident so angered and upset by the furniture dumped off the side of the road in Howe State Park that he decided to do something about it. 

"I come down here all the time, it's beautiful down here," said the man, who doesn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation

He said he actually went digging through the couch cushions Monday morning to try to find something that might identify the person who dumped it here.

Amongst remote controls and pocket change, he found the crumpled up concert ticket with the suspect's name on it.

"I started laughing actually and said, 'Uh huh, actually he's going to come back and get this,'" he said.

He turned in the ticket, for a May concert at a Connecticut nightclub, to Spencer police, who were able to track the suspect down.

"He admitted it was his property, there was a question of whether he himself or a friend of his dropped it off, but in the end he went down, cleaned up his property and it was removed from Howe State Park," Spencer Police Sgt. Michael Befford said.

That 23-year-old Spencer man hasn't been charged yet, so NBC10 Boston isn't identifying him, but police say he will be summonsed to court.

"Maybe when he pays the fine he won't do it again because I'm sure the fine is going to be more than what it was if he just would have went to the dump and got rid of it in the first place," said the Spencer resident who helped identify the suspect.

It's a small victory for police and the parks, one that has been met with praise and pride throughout town.

"You can't get away with that, it's just not right," said Charlie McGrath, who saw the dumped items.

"I think that's amazing, You never know what's in your couch, so don't throw out your couch on the side of the road because you're going to get caught," Brenda Berard of Spencer said.

The owner of the couch and mattress will be charged with littering, police said.

Beyond that, they hope this discourages anyone else from dumping trash or furniture in the state park.

As for Pauly D, he's actually been successful in his second career spinning records away from the Jersey Shore. He's tied for No. 15 on the Forbes highest-paid DJs list this year.

Asher Klein contributed to this report.

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