The remains of the suspicious briefcase after it was safely detonated by police Monday morning. (Photo by Kevin Kelley)

Suspicious briefcase at gas station results in evacuation
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published Jan. 25, 2006

Whoever left a briefcase with wires sticking out next to a gas pump at the BP station at Detroit and Bradley roads Monday morning may have thought it was a prank. But Westlake Police didn’t find it amusing.

A bomb robot moved the suspicious briefcase to a wooded area behind the gas station and safely detonated it. The black briefcase was empty but had wires sticking out.

Authorities believe the briefcase was deliberately left at the gas station to disrupt business and traffic in the area.

Police say the person responsible faces charges of inducing panic and possibly using a hoax weapon of mass destruction.

A BP employee notified police that the briefcase was left at the set of pumps at the west end of the gas station at 6:45 Monday morning. One of two officers who first arrived at the scene happened to be a bomb technician. He determined that assistance from the hazardous devices unit of the Westshore Enforcement Bureau was needed.

Later, a bomb robot belonging to the Southwest Enforcement Bureau kept in Berea was brought in to move the briefcase.

The gas station and nearby businesses, as well as residents within a 300-foot radius of the gas station, were evacuated as a precaution. Bradley and Detroit roads were closed to traffic in the area until 9:30 a.m.

Evidence technicians will be examining the remains of the suitcase, said Capt. Guy Turner, public information officer for the Westlake Police.

Turner said it was the first time the bomb robot had been used in Westlake. It’s standard operating procedure for police to treat a suspicious package as a possible bomb, he added.

Turner told reporters officers were obviously concerned about a possible explosive device being placed so close to gasoline tanks.

The bomb robot did its job, Turner said.

“We’d one-hundred times like to see a robot blown up instead of a human,” he said.

Police said they would be examining any surveillance video taken by the gas station or other nearby businesses to try and identify the culprit.

Anyone who witnessed anything suspicious at the BP station around 6:45 a.m. Monday is asked to call the Westlake Police at 871-3311.