News : Strange Items at the Race Track

The Above the Influence Coalition and the Area Substance Abuse Council would like to take a brief minute of your time to share information about a recent event that took place at the race track in Vinton. While looking for a seat in the almost empty grandstands, a member of the coalition found a skinny laundry detergent bottle looking strangely out of place. It was later found by police to contain hypodermic needles, both used and unused. Two weeks later, more needles were found in the outfield.

We’d like to take this time to highlight the best way to handle such an incidence. It is always best to leave suspicious looking items in place and inform police of their location right away. It is never a good idea to contaminate your vehicle or personal residence in an effort to clean up or investigate the items. Containers with drug materials, such as meth making materials or needles, have a large potential for danger that would include dangerous residue or flammable materials.

If you were to come across any of these suspicious looking materials, the coalition and the Benton County Sheriff’s office have an anonymous way to share information with both the county and city law enforcement. Text 2 Protect enables the public to send anonymous tips through text messages to law enforcement to report unlawful activity that is taking place within our community. To send an anonymous tip via text message to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, simply text the keyword “BENTON” and your message to 274637 (CRIMES). The keyword of BENTON is necessary for the system to know which community the tip needs to be routed. Help us keep Benton County communities safe!