By Michael Cole

The Orange Leader

 

The ditches and yards of Bridge City seem to be suffering an infestation.

Not a bug, crawfish, or other critters; but syringes.

And it has gotten many Bridge City residents frustrated and angry.

According to a recent Facebook post in the group Bridge City 2.0 by Jennifer Dixon:

I’m getting so p*****. This is the second time I’ve found used needles in my yard. What can I do about it? We have children on this round they could get poked by one of these drug heads needles, animals could get a hold of them. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Others in the group chimed in with at least two others stating they too have had similar problems. One even had a Facebook video showing the syringe that he had found in his yard a day after mowing.

The video can be seen HERE. We caution the reader, there is graphic language.

“I have found about four or five syringes in my ditch when I was mowing” James Underwood, of Bridge City, said. “I live on Bower right across from the Middle School.”

“It is disheartening to see such things,” Underwood said. “Many times I have mowed the ditches around my house getting tired of waiting for the city to do it. In addition to those syringes, I have found some interesting things.”

Underwood is referring to the time that he mowed the ditch and when he finished and was disposing of the grass clippings, he came across a bag of pills.

“I didn’t even notice it at first. I looked and there it was.,” Underwood said.

Later on, he said he saw a car stop at the stop sign, and a man got out to look for something. Underwood went to the man and asked him if he lost something. The man said no and went across the street to the Middle School. Underwood noted that the man went back to searching after he went back inside.

Underwood feels that there should be something done about it but doesn’t think that it would be a high priority for the city or county.

“Why waste my time and effort when I know that nothing will be done about it?” Underwood asked.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office stated that as of the time of publication of this story, they had not received any calls reporting syringes in yards or ditches.

Earlier this year, Krispen Walker, an Orange County Assistant District Attorney, said that for Orange County, meth is probably the biggest problem facing the community and that the DA’s Office is doing whatever it can to combat it.

When asked for a comment on the syringes, Walker added, “report the issue to the Sheriff’s Office or other local law enforcement and perhaps request extra patrols.

“It’s tragic that people have to be careful in their own yards and near their homes because of the addictions of others. These days, everyone must be vigilant and particularly alert as to what is going on in their surroundings.”

According to Detective Janois Grizzaffi with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office,  “if anyone does find syringes and are concerned for their safety, they can contact the Sheriff’s Office at 883-2612 and we will send someone to pick them up.   They may also opt to place the syringes in a sealed glass container and dispose of them on their own, we just urge caution when doing so.”

As far as keeping it for evidence, Grizzaffi went on, “unfortunately we can only dispose of the syringes since we do not know who they belong to.”