D.A. charges diaper-dumping suspect

The Orange County district attorney’s office has filed one misdemeanor charge against a man suspected of dumping soiled adult diapers in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach.

Tomoo Kawai is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 17. He faces probation up to a maximum six months in jail if convicted.

Corona del Mar Today first reported the charges.

Although the D.A.’s office did not release Kawai’s address or city of residence, police previously said the suspect is a 67-year-old man from Newport Beach.

In September, Laguna Beach police found a bag of dirty diapers that also contained an envelope with an address on it.

After tracking that address to a home in Newport, they followed a man who drove toward Laguna. Officers stopped him near the Crystal Cove Promenade in Newport and saw a bag of adult diapers in the car.

The single charge of prohibited waste disposal does not necessarily correlate to only one incident. It covers a range from June 27 to Sept. 24, a D.A. spokeswoman said.

“We want to see this case resolved in a way that’s going to stop the behavior as well as what will be in the best interest of justice as a whole,” spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.

— Jeremiah Dobruck

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck