SEYMOUR, Ind. — Seymour Police are warning the community after a woman was poked by an uncapped syringe inside a public restroom.
Lt. John Watson said the woman found the uncapped syringe inside the tube of a toilet paper roll on Wednesday.
"It could've happened to anyone," said Watson. "Nobody knows how long the syringe was there."
Watson said the the scary part is they are finding the needles everywhere from local parks, to playgrounds and some people are throwing them out of their car window.
"We're finding them on the sidewalks, along the road, parks and kids at bus stops find them," said Watson. "These are your drug users, they just dispose of their syringes and they may see a police officer coming and just ditch it on the ground."
It's a growing problem in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Seymour Police Department has a narcotics team combating the issue.
"During the night a lot of the drug users will congregate at the park and use their narcotics there," Watson said.
Police received a report from a business owner Friday who found a needle by their back door. So far this year officers have found 18 syringes. In one of those cases, a duffel bag was seen behind a convenient store.
"When the officers arrived they opened it and it was full of syringes," Watson said.
If you find a needle Watson said do not touch it -- just call police.
"Stay with the syringe," said Watson. "Some people would call and tell us where it's at then leave and then we would show up and can't find it."
If you get poked by one, Watson said go to the doctor immediately.
"They'll have to go through a series of testing to make sure they do not get any communicable diseases," Watson said.
If you are caught with a syringe police said it is a level 6 felony and it could cost you up to two years behind bars.
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