Panhandlers Busted On Suspicion of Buying Heroin

If you give money to panhandlers holding up signs on Yakima street corners, you might want to rethink your generosity.

Three Yakima panhandlers are under arrest today after police say they were buying heroin using the money they were given on the street. Yakima Police Capt. Rod Light says officers arrested three men who were panhandling Monday afternoon in the area of 40th Avenue and River Road.

Light says the men were having heroin delivered to the area multiple times a day.

"People need to quit handing money to these individuals who stand on the street corner and present themselves as some low-trodden person that has no place to live," Light says. "These are hardcore drug addicts."

The three suspects were arrested on a charge of loitering for the purpose of engaging in drug activity. They are now in the Yakima County Jail and they face charges in  Yakima County Superior Court.

Light says the arrests were the result of a weeklong investigation into panhandler activities.