Police find glass on park bench

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- Adding more wrinkles to already worried parents in

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, police added another park to the growing

list of places where strategically placed sharp objects have been found.

Newport Beach police volunteer John Lippman found a triangular piece

of sharp glass jutting from between slats of a park bench Friday

afternoon, Sgt. Steve Shulman said.

The discovery marks the eighth in a series of disturbing findings of

sharp objects, mostly razor blades, placed on playground equipment in

parks over the last month. Nobody has been hurt so far.

Lippman was checking playground equipment and benches in Cliff Drive

Park, at the corner of Riverside and Cliff drives, when he spotted the

glass, Shulman said.

“We don’t know yet if this incident is related to the others,” he

said. The police report shows the shard was placed there deliberately

with the intention of hurting somebody.

According to the report, the glass was found “wedged between the

slats” and Lippman had to use a pocket knife to remove it. It was also

placed close to the middle of the bench, about 12 inches from the edge,

the report said.

Lippman, who inspected the rest of the park, found no signs of any

broken glass objects in the area, officials said.

Shulman said volunteers, as well as police officers, will inspect city

parks several times a day, as they have been doing over the last few

weeks.

He said police have notified schools and homeowners associations to

make people aware of the presence of sharp objects in parks.

“We are continuing to put up warning signs in parks and playground

areas in English and Spanish,” Shulman said.

Razor blades have been found in two Newport Beach parks so far --

Wednesday at Bolsa Park, at the the corner of Bolsa and Broad streets,

and March 23 at Marina Park, located at 18th Street and West Balboa

Boulevard.

Similar findings were reported in three Costa Mesa parks -- three

times in Heller Park on 16th Street on March 30, and April 1 and 17; in

Pinkley Park on Ogle Street on April 16 and at Lions Park on West 16th

Street on April 24.

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police are working together and sharing

information, Shulman said.

Residents are also crossing city borders to help the police find the

culprit or culprits, said Costa Mesa resident Bud Haley, who is trying to

put together a reward fund for a tip that results in an arrest. He has

already received pledges for $2,000.

Haley said he has received pledges and calls from people who don’t

even go to the affected parks.

“This is an amazing little community we have here,” he said. “People

here are totally concerned in Newport Beach, as well as Costa Mesa.”