A school superintendent has been busted as the mystery “serial pooper” who routinely defecated on the track at a New Jersey high school.
Thomas Tramaglini, 42, lives about 3 miles from the Holmdel High School football field and track where human feces was found on a daily basis, according to NJ.com.
Track coaches reported the feces to police, and school staff began monitoring the area.
Tramaglini was arrested on Monday after he was spotted taking a dump on the track at 5:50 a.m.
Tramaglini is the school superintendent in neighboring Kenilworth. He has taken a leave of absence from his $147,504 a year job, NJ.com reports.
Serial pooping is making headlines as more social media users expose the culprits by posting their photos and videos online.
Clinical psychologist Sharon Chirban, Ph.D., in Boston, explained the psychology behind serial poopers.
Dr. Chirban said serial poopers are very intentional and it can be an act of aggression and entitlement.
“It is the ultimate F.U. and vandalism crime. It’s a statement. They’re expressing aggression through an egregious act.”
“As with other vandalizing behavior like tire slashing, graffiti, or salting lawns, the motivation is anger or envy,” she explains. “Maybe the lawn pooper is envious of those in that neighborhood. Maybe the laundry pooper is angry about the laziness of others to empty washers in a timely fashion.”
She added: “There can be a secondary gain from getting away with it. That can lead to a kind of invincibility, and rationalizing as ‘they deserved it anyway.’ When the behavior continues, there’s no remorse. Instead, you see a growing sense of grandiosity, a type of vindictive rage getting acted out.”
Dr. Chirban said there are exceptions to the rule, such as people in full-blown psychosis who may not realize they are doing it, or people who just had to go and there weren’t any facilities nearby.
Clinical psychologist Bart Rossi, Ph.D. agrees that anger is the underlying emotion, but there are psychological problems as well.
“These people might also have a thought disorder, believing that this is what it takes to be recognized,” Dr. Rossi says.
