An inactive hand grenade was recovered Thursday afternoon by the Allen County Bomb Squad during an investigation into a suspicious package in a vehicle parked by the Logan County Juvenile Detention Center, 104 S. Madriver St.
No injuries were reported during the incident that prompted an evacuation of several downtown buildings and further investigation has been turned over to inspectors with the United States Postal Service.
Thursday, Bellefontaine Police Department Chief Brandon Standley said his agency was notified by a Bellefontaine woman, who said she had received the out-of-state package in the mail the previous day.
She reportedly had placed the package in her vehicle and had started to open it Thursday while parked by the JDC. The woman told officers she became suspicious of items she found in the package and notified the police department.
“The city resident who found the package did the right thing by contacting us with her concerns,” Chief Standley said.
Officers responded to the scene around 1:30 p.m. and officers said they also found the package to be suspicious, so an evacuation of buildings in the area of Madriver Street and east Columbus Avenue began.
Police worked with deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office to evacuate the Logan County JDC, Memorial Hall, the Logan County Courthouse Annex Building, Logan County Adult Parole Authority, Lighthouse Shelter and the former church at the southeast corner of Madriver Street and Columbus Avenue.
Authorities also closed Madriver Street between Chillicothe and Columbus avenues, and also a portion of Court Avenue, to all traffic for the afternoon until the investigation wrapped up around 5:30 p.m.
Before the Allen County Bomb Squad arrived, officers flew a drone in the area as well to take a look at the package.
The bomb squad first deployed a robot on the vehicle . Then a bomb squad member wearing an Explosive Ordnance Advanced Disposal Bomb Suit approached the vehicle to conduct the process of dealing with a potentially dangerous materials.
“It’s not every day that we have a situation like this and we are going to take every precaution possible to keep everyone safe. It’s a slow and methodical process,” Chief Standley said while on the scene.