The Maine State Police Bomb Squad removed a “suspicious object” from a mailbox on South Hunts Meadow Road in Whitefield the morning of Thursday, Dec. 1, ultimately determining the object to be a “fake device.”
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a call at 7:42 a.m. about the discovery of the object, a bottle containing clear liquid with a watch attached, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff’s deputies responded, secured the scene, and contacted the bomb squad for assistance. Bomb squad techs and an investigator from the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene.
Authorities closed a section of the road for about an hour and a half while the object was investigated and removed.
The object will go to the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory in Augusta for further analysis, according to the press release. LCSO and the Fire Marshal’s Office are continuing to investigate.
LCSO reminds the public to call 911 immediately upon the discovery of a suspicious package or device.
“Always move to a safe distance and never touch, examine, or otherwise move any such item,” Lt. Michael Murphy said in the press release. “A safe distance can be summed up by a quote from a fire marshal’s investigator: ‘If you can see the device, the device can see you.’”
