Police Tuesday said that a citizen’s report of about 100 hypodermic needles found on the beach was exaggerated, and that officials have only been able to locate a handful of the discarded syringes.
“We were only able to locate five needles, not like the 100 or so being reported,” Newport Beach Police Lt. Jeff Brouwer said.
Public Works and Municipal Operations workers rechecked the beach Tuesday and only found one more, Brouwer said.
“We’re obviously worried about somebody getting contaminated or stuck with one of those needles,” he added.
Police suspect the handful of needles washed ashore with other trash as usually happens following a heavy rain, Brouwer said.
“After a rain we get a lot of debris washing down the river onto the beach,” he said. “You never know what you’re going to get.”
Police think it’s possible the needles came from one of the transient encampments along the river that feeds into the ocean, the lieutenant said.
“We’re still checking because we want to make sure it’s not an ongoing problem, but it’s not like it’s a widespread problem as of now,” Brouwer said.
–City News Service