An east Alabama motel owner was arrested after police claim he illegally dumped hundreds of mattresses riddled with bedbugs in a wooded area.

Dharmeshkumar Patel, owner of the Lanett Inn, was charged with five counts of criminal littering, LaFayette Police Chief Investigator Lt. Roderick Brock told WRBL.

Patel reportedly told police investigators he was renovating the motel and tried to dispose of the mattresses but could not find a facility that would take the bug-infested bedding.

“He called around to the proper places where you can dispose of them, and they would not take them, so he was aware that the surrounding locations would not take that amount,” Brock said.

About 200 bedbug-infested mattresses and box springs were found last week on Chambers County Road 92, prompting the police investigation.

Patel told police he hired a crew to dispose of the mattresses but did not share any names with authorities, Brock said.

The cleanup was estimated to cost $10,000.

Brock said additional arrests may be forthcoming.