Semmes Junkman Gets Nat’l Attention

Paul Hamman Redstone Drive East A national TV show is profiling people who hoard. The junkman in Semmes has the most stuff they have ever seen.

by Tiffany Craig

Published: Fri, April 24, 2009 - 5:15 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, April 24, 2009 - 7:45 pm CST

A national cable show is coming to the rescue of a man very familiar to News 5 viewers.

Paul Hamman owns the county's junkiest property on Redstone Drive East in Semmes. We've followed Hamman's story for two years including the fact that he was charged with criminal littering and thrown in jail for all that junk in January.

After seeing our stories, a Seattle production crew called Screaming Flea Productions contacted us about getting Hamman some help. This week, they showed up in South Alabama and started the big job. They brought in a therapist for Hamman and workers to load up dozens of trucks and containers.

The crew is also filming the effort as part of a show running this summer about hoarding.

Matt Paxton is part of the crew and has a company called Clutter Cleaner. "He's just a regular guy who got in over his head. If he was an alcoholic and this was all beer, people would be trying to help him. This is just uglier and weirder because it's junk."

The help comes just in time for Hamman. He has another court appearance on his criminal littering case next Tuesday.

Hamman will keep most of the money from the scrap metal sales so he's pretty happy about that. The hoarding documentary will air on a popular channel this summer but we can't tell you the name until they start promoting the show.

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bobcat Says:

Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 10:29 am

In all honesty, I couldn’t be happier for the man if this is what he wants and needs. I can only hope at this point that this documentary is done in good taste and doesn’t try to exploit the gentleman for a ratings factor but instead turns it into a situation that can make him proud and give him some type of relief from the pressure he has been under. I’ve seen shows where people live in homes where you have to turn sideways to squeeze through a path throughout the home from all of their belongings stacked ceiling to floor and I realize the pain they go through letting go of their “stuff”. Bringing in therapy for him and giving him an option to make some money is great too. I wish him all the best and I hope that those who have complained find it in their hearts to thank him or compliment him on how great things turned out. Maybe even offer a friendly handshake and a smile. He seems to be a nice guy.