SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Santa Barbara County Sheriff investigators have confirmed that the suspicious package dropped off at the Santa Maria Police Department Tuesday was an empty safe.
As of Tuesday evening, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Bomb Squad has hoisted the suspicious package found early Tuesday morning.
The Santa Maria Police Department says a man came into the office at 9:00am Tuesday morning claiming to be a federal agent and said he found what appeared to be a safe in an alleyway along south Broadway.
Police came out to the parking lot where the unidentified man had left the small metal container. Since its contents were unknown, the entire Santa Maria Police Department and surrounding buildings were evacuated. A remote controlled robot inspected the container and a technician in full blast gear was sent in.
"We know who he is, at this point we do not believe he has any ill intent, we think he's a good samaritan turning in recovered property. Unfortunately, we cannot verify the contents of the container at this time," says Terry Flaa, Santa Maria Police Department.
"The Dispatch Center was also evacuated, at no time were emergency 911 calls compromised under an existing agreement with the County of Santa Barbara dispatch as the calls were rerouted there," says Mark Van de Camp, City of Santa Maria.
Vandenberg Air Force Base also deployed its highly-trained k-9 unit to sniff out the metal container to see if the dog could detect any explosive materials inside.
