Bomb scare closes stores

A Staples store in Elmsford had to be evacuated this morning after suspicious package were delivered. Police say a store employee came in to find FedEx packages on top of the store's delivery box on

News 12 Staff

Dec 23, 2014, 10:50 PM

Updated 3,633 days ago

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A Staples store in Elmsford had to be evacuated this morning after suspicious package were delivered.
Police say a store employee came in to find FedEx packages on top of the store's delivery box on Tarrytown Road. The packages did not have tracking labels and something just didn't seem right so the Westchester County bomb squad was called in to investigate. "Just the way they were haphazardly distributed on top of the box in there, and everything just looked suspicious," says Sgt. Thomas Fennell.
Police cordoned off the shopping center as well as a portion of busy Route 119 while the bomb squad checked the package. After X-raying the boxes, they determined there was no explosive threat, but the package did contain saturated newspapers. "That saturation was tested and turned out to be some kind of a paint and determined not to be any kind of a threat," says Fennell.
Once the all clear was given, other stores in the plaza were allowed to open. Staples remained roped off until the investigation was complete.
Even though this turned out to be a false alarm, Sgt. Fennell said the employee did the right thing by calling police. He says if anyone gets a package that just doesn't seem right, don't bring it in the house but give police a call and they'll come check it out for you.