Mystery of the Urine-filled Pop Cans

June 26, 2009

York, Nebraska, in case you have not heard of it, is a town of approximately 8,000 people located near the intersection of Highway 81, a north-south freeway that runs from South America to Canada, and Interstate 80, an east-west freeway that crosses the nation.  The town boasts a high quality of life and low cost of living, and relatively easy access to just about anywhere.  Crime has not been a significant problem, either.  However, for at least the past two months, local business owners have been finding urine-filled pop cans lying around in parking lots at their places of business, with used catheters sticking out of the cans' openings.  Since about April 2009, these bizarre discoveries have been made not only in business parking lots but in municipal parking lots and alleys behind stores as well, and no one, yet, has a clue to the identity of the culprit(s) of what the locals are calling "catheter crimes."
 
According to a representative from one local business, the catheters, urine and cans have been found somewhat regularly, sometimes three to four times a week, and people are becoming more concerned as time goes on.  Some are particularly concerned about the possible health hazards, in part because the catheters extending out of the cans look somewhat like fancy straws and people are worried that children will find them and use them as such.

"This is disgusting and we're sick of finding them," one business representative said.  "This has to stop…we have called the police about it, but it just keeps happening and something needs to be done.  Other business people in this area have also been finding them in the alleys behind their stores and we know another business…has been finding them in their parking lot.  This is enough."

The business representative further stated that she had concerns over the grossness of the situation, and also "because this is a serious health hazard.  Kids run through this parking lot all the time and we'd hate to have them pick it up, thinking it's a pop with a straw hanging out of it.  This is disgusting."

The fact that the catheters are short, like oversized straws, and extended from the openings of pop cans instead of being attached to plastic bags, as they typically would be if they were being used in a healthcare setting, only added to the mystery.

Another businessperson said that she "cannot even begin to fathom what on earth is going on out here or why this is happening.  But it needs to end and it needs to end now….It's a big problem, and it's gross."

"Maybe it's a situation in which someone has a need for a catheter and they are disposing of it improperly," York Police Chief Don Klug said.  "Whatever reason, this needs to be used and handled appropriately."

Chief Klug said that he only knew about one occurrence in which someone had reported it to the police.  He added that if it had been reported more than one time, he was not aware of it.

For now, this bizarre string of crimes remains a mystery.  Perhaps DNA analysis, if it has not already been done, could shed more light on the identity of the perpetrator(s).

Photo Credit: Freeimages.co.uk

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