Crime & Safety

HAZMAT, Bomb Squad Respond to 'Suspicious Package' at School Board Office

The fact that no return address was posted on the 8- by 6-inch package raised a few red flags. However, the contents turned out to be less than sinister.

Brecksville police, fire department, the bomb squad and the HAZMAT team all responded to the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board Office for a report of a “suspicious” package on Monday morning.

However, the contents turned out to be less than sinister.

Three potato chips — all unbroken — were later found inside the package, as part of a class assignment.

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“(Students) were assigned to package something in a clever way so that it wouldn’t break, and we didn’t know anything about the assignment,” said Cathy Harbinak, the distict’s spokeswoman. “It was a beat-up looking package.”

The fact that no return address was posted on the 8- by 6-inch package raised a few red flags.

Find out what's happening in Brecksvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Police got the call at 9:18 a.m. Tuesday.

“(It) fit the criteria for a suspicious package, and had no return address, and it was not expected by the board of education,” according to a Brecksville Police news release.

The bomb squad used an X-ray to determine that the package did not contain any explosive device.

“The package was analyzed by HAZMAT and was determined that it did not contain any harmful substance,” according to the news release.

“If anything came out of this, is that we take every security precaution very seriously,” said Harbinak.


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