City cracking down on park vandals

The city of Blytheville is cracking down on vandalism in the local parks, according to Parks and Recreation Director Elroy Brown.

Brown said on Saturday, vandals damage one of the seats of a picnic table at Walker Park. A citizen witnessed the incident and took down the vandals' license plate number, turning over that information to authorities, according to Brown.

Brown said Blytheville Police are investigating the incident.

"We're going to find out who did this and they're going to pay for it," he said. "We're pressing charges."

Brown noted there hasn't been much vandalism in Walker Park and the city intends to keep it that way.

The city is also tracking down missing park property.

Brown said two weeks ago, city officials recovered three missing $1,000 picnic tables and returned them to Williams Park.

"We've still got some more to recover," Brown said, adding some tables have been missing for years. "We think we might know where the other ones are. But it's kind of like this: it's property of the city, you return it, we'll put it back out there, no questions asked. If these tables are $1,000 and you've got them in your yard, that's a felony."

Concerned citizens are stepping up to report vandalism and missing property, he said.

"We're on the right track," Brown said. "We're not going to quit until we recover it all."

Anyone with further information on Saturday's vandalism is asked to contact the Blytheville Police Department at 763-4411.

mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com