The owner of a Flatlands funeral home who is accused of storing the deceased in U-Haul trucks amid the pandemic is giving his side of the story.

News 12 reported on a smell coming from Andrew Thomas Cleckley Funeral Home in April, only to learn that deceased New Yorkers had been piled up outside in U-Haul trucks awaiting burial.

Owner Andrew Thomas Cleckley got his license suspended while under review.

However, Cleckley says he wasn't the one who put those trucks there. He says that that the five other funeral directors working out of his storefront were the ones behind it.

"I was actively turning people away," Cleckley says.

Still, Cleckley admits he was quickly overwhelmed by the demand for space in his funeral home.

Records of the U-Haul rental do show a different person taking out the truck.

News 12 called the person listed as the renter, who responded, "I don't know anything about that, that's out of my hands I'm sorry."

Cleckley insists it wasn't him, also showing News 12 texts and posters where he says he pleaded for the other directors to stop accepting bodies.

He's now worried that his 8-year-old business is on the line.

News 12 reached out to the state Department of Health, who is conducting this investigation. A spokesperson says they could not comment until a final ruling is issued.

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