Two employees with a Scottsbluff beer distributorship escaped injury when they were threatened and their truck vandalized by protestors about 9:00 Friday morning in Whiteclay.

The protestors are believed to be part of an ongoing effort to stop the sale of beer in the Sheridan County border town to residents of the adjacent Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned.

Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Jamey Balthazor says Dietrich Distributing employees Brandon Sandoz and Josh Tuttle were approached by 5-to-10 individuals from a larger group of protesters as they were delivering beer to one of the four Whiteclay stores with liquor licenses.

Lt Balthazor says Sandoz, the driver, told authorities he was threatened while the truck was vandalized, including having its tires were slashed, and some of the beer destroyed. Balthazor says there were no reports of weapons being involved in the incident.

The protectors had already fled across the state line to South Dakota and the reservation by the time law enforcement officers could arrived. Balthazor says the Patrol is working with the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to identify the suspects

He also says that, at this time, there are no plans to provide an additional law enforcement presence in Whiteclay becaue to the incident.