HELP REDUCE YOUR RISK. COMING UP. GOOD EVENING. WE START TONIGHT IN ALBUQUERQUE. RESTAURANT OWNER SAYS HE WAS CITED BY THE CITY FOR LITTER THAT HE CLAIMS WAS THROWN ONTO HIS PROPERTY BY A HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT. ROBERT VICK OWNS VICK VITTLES COUNTRY KITCHEN ON CENTRAL, CLAIMING AN ENCAMPMENT AT A BURNT PIZZA HUT. NEXT TO HIS BUSINESS IS ACCUMULATING SO MUCH GARBAGE THAT IT’S BLOWING ONTO HIS PROPERTY. HE SAYS MOST OF THE ITEMS ARE NEEDLES AND FOIL HE BELIEVES ARE USED FOR ILLICIT DRUGS. AFTER CALLING 311 AND REPORTING THE ENCAMPMENT TO THE CITY, HE SAYS HE WAS CITED. WELL, THE NUMBER ONE THING IS NEEDLES. SUPERGLUE, BOTTLES, LIGHTERS. AND SO I CALLED IT IN AND LET THEM KNOW ABOUT IT. THE VERY NEXT DAY I GOT CITED BY THE CITY FOR TRASH. KOAT REACHED OUT TO THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, WHO TOLD US THE CITY ENFORCES CODES CONSISTENTLY, AND WHILE OUR EMPLOYEES ARE LIMITED IN WHAT THEY CAN DO ON PRIVATE PROPERTY, OWNERS ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING THEIR PROPERTIES. WE ARE WILLING TO WORK WITH MR. VICK TO ADDRESS THE SURROUNDING ISSUES AND HELP PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN, AND ALSO WANTS TO REMIND RESIDENTS THAT THEY SHOULD ALWAYS CALL 3
Business owner gets cited after picking up needles and trash
Robert Vick had people living outdoors next to his restaurant, leaving hypodermic needles on the ground.
Updated: 5:44 PM MDT Apr 4, 2026
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The owner of a well-known restaurant on Central Avenue in Albuquerque near a bus stop, claims he called the city, more than once, to clean up the area adjacent to vacant lot where a Pizza Hut burned down — twice. Robert Vick had people living outdoors next to his restaurant, Vick’s Vittles, who were dumping trash, defecating, making campfires, and leaving thousands of hypodermic needles and other drug paraphernalia on the ground. The city didn’t come to clean up the area, and when the wind picked up, the debris was blown through a fence onto his property. So Vick began cleaning up the area himself with the help of his family and employees.Did the city appreciate him doing their job? Hardly. Instead, Vick received a citation for not maintaining his property to comply with city regulations.In what the citation calls violations of the Integrated Development Ordinance and/or the Albuquerque Weed and Anti-Litter Ordinance at 8800 Central Ave, SE, “There was an accumulation of weeds and litter on the property. Remove all weeds and litter (trash and/or yard waste) on or around the property to include trimming vegetation back from the sidewalks, and dispose of waste properly. Maintain the area to continue code compliance.” “It’s like we’re being punished for it,” Vick said. “I’m paying taxes for the city to keep their area clean. We keep our area clean, and the city is doing every thing they can to help out — to me, it seems like they’re just helping out these people to be on the streets, giving them needles so they can be safe about the way they’re using their drugs. And then they’re throwing their needles all over our property so that we’re the ones having to pick it up.”City of Albuquerque spokesperson Alex Curtas sent KOAT the following statement:”This is a difficult situation, and we understand the frustration from business owners dealing with illegal dumping and unsafe conditions, constantly, and while our employees are limited in what they can do on private property, owners are ultimately responsible for maintaining their properties. We are willing to work with Mr. Vick to address the surrounding issues and help prevent this from happening again, and I want to remind residents that they should always call 311 for safe needle removal.” Vick said he will appeal the citation.”I have so much money invested in this area to take care of our people, our restaurant, our customers, and it feels like I’m losing money every day because of this,” Vick said. “I got over $200,000 in fencing to try to keep people off the property, to try to keep it clean, and we keep investing more and more in it, and they still break into the fence.”
The owner of a well-known restaurant on Central Avenue in Albuquerque near a bus stop, claims he called the city, more than once, to clean up the area adjacent to vacant lot where a Pizza Hut burned down — twice.
Robert Vick had people living outdoors next to his restaurant, Vick’s Vittles, who were dumping trash, defecating, making campfires, and leaving thousands of hypodermic needles and other drug paraphernalia on the ground. The city didn’t come to clean up the area, and when the wind picked up, the debris was blown through a fence onto his property. So Vick began cleaning up the area himself with the help of his family and employees.
Did the city appreciate him doing their job? Hardly. Instead, Vick received a citation for not maintaining his property to comply with city regulations.
In what the citation calls violations of the Integrated Development Ordinance and/or the Albuquerque Weed and Anti-Litter Ordinance at 8800 Central Ave, SE, “There was an accumulation of weeds and litter on the property. Remove all weeds and litter (trash and/or yard waste) on or around the property to include trimming vegetation back from the sidewalks, and dispose of waste properly. Maintain the area to continue code compliance.”
“It’s like we’re being punished for it,” Vick said. “I’m paying taxes for the city to keep their area clean. We keep our area clean, and the city is doing every thing they can to help out — to me, it seems like they’re just helping out these people to be on the streets, giving them needles so they can be safe about the way they’re using their drugs. And then they’re throwing their needles all over our property so that we’re the ones having to pick it up.”
City of Albuquerque spokesperson Alex Curtas sent KOAT the following statement:
“This is a difficult situation, and we understand the frustration from business owners dealing with illegal dumping and unsafe conditions, constantly, and while our employees are limited in what they can do on private property, owners are ultimately responsible for maintaining their properties. We are willing to work with Mr. Vick to address the surrounding issues and help prevent this from happening again, and I want to remind residents that they should always call 311 for safe needle removal.”
Vick said he will appeal the citation.
“I have so much money invested in this area to take care of our people, our restaurant, our customers, and it feels like I’m losing money every day because of this,” Vick said. “I got over $200,000 in fencing to try to keep people off the property, to try to keep it clean, and we keep investing more and more in it, and they still break into the fence.”
