SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

‘Hoarder’ claims harassment; suing Lewis County for $400 billion

Jun 10, 2013, 1:19 PM | Updated: 1:51 pm

Victor Bonagofski lives on two acres near Centralia and admits to owning hundreds of cars and tons ...

Victor Bonagofski lives on two acres near Centralia and admits to owning hundreds of cars and tons of cardboard. (Google Earth)

(Google Earth)

Victor Bonagofski is suing Lewis County for $400 billion for harassment.

Bonagofski lives on two acres near Centralia and admits to owning hundreds of cars and tons of cardboard. His neighbors say all of his junk is attracting vermin and it’s lowering their property values.

“I have a fence around my property,” Bonagofski told the Dori Monson Show. He added that there are no rats or mice on his property.

Bonagofski said the county is violating his right to be free and he just wants to be left alone.

“The county has been harassing me since 2004. And at a dollar a second, that’s what it has come up to.”

However, Bonagofski said he’d settle for $4 million today.

“I’d have a car crusher come in and clean up my property and go back to living the way I used to.”

Bonagofski said he doesn’t want to live this way, but he’s so busy learning laws because the county won’t leave him alone. He said he’s already recycled over 8,000 tons of cardboard, but his efforts are also weather dependent.

As soon as he gets his dump truck running and a little money, Bonagofski said he’ll get going on the cleanup.

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‘Hoarder’ claims harassment; suing Lewis County for $400 billion