More dangerous glass pieces found

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- Glass fragments in the sand and on playground

equipment were found at a city park Wednesday, marking the ninth time

that someone has placed either glass shards or razor blades in places

where young children could be seriously harmed.

Families who had brought their children to the Buffalo Hills Park

early and late afternoon discovered the pieces at the site located at the

corner of Port Margate Place and Port Charles Place, Newport Beach Police

Lt. Doug Fletcher said.

This is the second time glass fragments have been found in a city

park. The first incident was reported at Cliff Drive Park on April 27,

when a police volunteer found a triangular piece of glass wedged between

the slats of a park bench.

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police are also investigating the

presence of razor blades on playground equipment in both cities’ parks.

On Wednesday afternoon, Elizabeth Martino was having a birthday party

for her 6-year-old son, Joey.

“We were almost done around 4, when the kids ran out to play on the

slide,” she said.

It was then that Joey found the piece of glass between the slats on

top of the slide.

“We’d heard about it,” Martino said. “We were a group of moms that

didn’t panic. We asked all the kids to wear shoes and called the police.”

Martino said it seemed like somebody had meticulously placed the

half-inch-long, thin piece of glass on the slide.

Earlier that afternoon, about 2:30 p.m., Newport Beach resident

Elliott Lowe’s baby-sitter discovered the other fragment on the sand when

she stepped on it and broke it.

“It was definitely put there intentionally,” Lowe said. “But I didn’t

imagine it would hit so close to home.”

Officers are investigating the incident, but it is difficult to say if

the glass was deliberately placed in the park, Fletcher said. The

incidents have been reported as “attempted assault with a deadly weapon.”

“There’s no indication this incident is connected to the others,”

Fletcher said. “But it could well be a copycat attempt.”

City employees, as well as police volunteers, are continuing to

inspect parks several times a day, he said.

“There’s also a heightened sense of awareness about these incidents in

the community,” Fletcher said.

“We’ll get a lot of these reports, some may not mean anything. But any

and all information is useful to us and helps us in the investigation.”