BY KEITH EPPS

A local man apparently didn't know he was being videotaped when he left an unwelcome deposit on the front porch of a Fredericksburg business this week.

City police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said the owner of Fredericksburg Square called police Thursday after finding human feces on the front porch of the business at 525 Caroline St.

The unseemly act was captured on surveillance cameras, and the man was seen using the porch as a public facility after going to the door and finding it locked, Bledsoe said. The responding officer recognized the offender as a 55-year-old homeless man who frequents the downtown area.

The camera showed that the act took place at 8:40 p.m. Monday when the business was closed.

Numerous city officers viewed the video, and on Friday morning about 20 of them were at the Valero on U.S. 1 in preparation for the city leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Virginia Special Olympics when the man walked into the store.

James Michael Allen was later charged with defecating in public, a Class 4 misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a $250 fine.

Allen has been arrested in the city at least 17 times since 2003, court records show. Most of the charges involved being drunk in public or drinking in public. He has been tried in his absence and convicted repeatedly, but has not paid any of his fines, court records show.

Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com