A 51-year-old Villa Rica woman has become the third person charged with a felony in Carroll County's sprawling illegal tire dumping investigation, accused of letting a wanted man use her property to unlawfully store and dispose of used tires in exchange for payment. Shelly Lynn Unger was arrested in connection with the ongoing probe, even as investigators say they still have not located the case's alleged ringleader.
According to WSB-TV, Unger was charged with felony dumping of biomedical or hazardous waste or substance, or dumping for a commercial purpose, after investigators say she allowed Jacob Ward to use property she owned or controlled to store and get rid of tires illegally. Carroll County Code Enforcement is separately pursuing a related case against Unger through magistrate court, the station reports.
Unger is now the third person to face felony charges in the widening investigation. Before her arrest, 31-year-old Tracey Lewis Johnson of Villa Rica was arrested on August 3 on identical felony dumping charges, accused of accepting cash payments to let tires be stored on his land, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Johnson had also been named alongside Unger in earlier civil code enforcement proceedings before the felony charges were filed.
A Fugitive Recycler at the Center of the Case
The man both Unger and Johnson allegedly helped, Jacob Ward, remains the central figure in the investigation and is wanted by the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. Ward operated under the business name Jacob's Tire Recycling, which was officially registered with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division in neighboring Douglas County, per FOX 5 Atlanta. Investigators allege Ward collected disposal fees from clients but then dumped the tires on rural lots instead of paying licensed processing facilities.
The sheriff's office obtained four felony arrest warrants for Ward on July 24, with each count carrying potential fines up to $25,000 — totaling as much as $100,000 — along with potential state prison time, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. Investigators have interviewed witnesses and collected evidence tying Ward to a U-Haul truck allegedly used to transport and unload thousands of used tires across rural county properties, a detail the outlet says came from Carroll County property crimes investigators.
Jail records reviewed by The Exposure show Ward was arrested in Carroll County on July 15 on an unrelated charge of simple battery, family violence, shortly before the felony tire-dumping warrants were issued and he went missing. Investigators still have not been able to locate him, and per investigators, he may be in the Floyd County area, according to WSB-TV.
Escalation From $240 Citations to Felony Warrants
The case began, as WSB-TV notes, with residents reporting suspected illegal tire dumping around Villa Rica. Before any criminal charges were filed, Carroll County Code Enforcement issued $240 civil citations to both Unger and Johnson at residential properties on Ridge Drive for permitting unauthorized tire dumping on their land, according to FOX 5 Atlanta's reporting. Those citations set off the broader criminal property-crimes investigation that has since produced three felony arrests.
Investigators have identified multiple dumping sites across the county, including a pile of nearly 1,000 tires abandoned in a vacant lot near a storage facility on Carrollton Villa Rica Highway, and hundreds more on private land including the former Barnes Van Lines property, per WSB-TV. Clearing that volume of tires typically requires substantial municipal or private cleanup resources.
Under Georgia Code § 16-7-52, dumping waste for commercial purposes, or discarding materials exceeding 10 pounds or 15 cubic feet, is classified as felony “egregious litter,” punishable by up to $25,000 in fines per violation, imprisonment, and mandatory property restitution, according to Justia Law. The statute holds both commercial dumpers and property owners who facilitate the dumping legally accountable, which is why Unger and Johnson face the same felony exposure as Ward despite not running the alleged tire business themselves.
A Regional Problem Beyond Carroll County
Commercial tire dumping has become a persistent issue across metro Atlanta. Hoodline previously reported that nearby DeKalb County launched a $250,000 remediation initiative that cleared more than 37,000 illegally dumped tires from residential and commercial areas, underscoring how heavily local governments can end up paying when commercial dumpers walk away from mass tire piles.
The piles themselves carry more than an eyesore problem. Large outdoor tire stacks collect rainwater and create stagnant, trapped pools that serve as ideal mosquito breeding grounds, a public health hazard that WSB-TV reports helped spur the original neighborhood complaints in Villa Rica following heavy summer rains. Illegal dumping more broadly can cause environmental pollution, property damage, and safety hazards, according to WSB-TV.
What Investigators Are Asking of the Public
The Carroll County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who witnesses illegal dumping in progress to report it directly to authorities by calling 911, which investigators say helps preserve evidence and identify those responsible. Anyone with information about Ward's whereabouts can also call 911 or contact Investigator Shane North at 770-830-5916 or by email at [email protected], per WSB-TV.
It remains unclear whether additional property owners or drivers linked to the alleged scheme will face charges, or who will ultimately shoulder the cost of clearing the thousands of tires still scattered across Villa Rica and Carroll County properties. For now, the case against Unger, like the earlier charges against Johnson and the outstanding warrants for Ward, remains a matter of felony allegations rather than proven guilt.
