A bomb scare in the parking garage at 40th and Walnut streets, though ultimately proven to be a hoax, forced the evacuation of the garage, The Freshgrocer supermarket and The Daily Pennsylvanian offices early this morning.
According to University Police, an officer was told shortly after midnight that there was a suspicious device taped to the back of a car parked in the garage. The Freshgrocer was evacuated a few minutes after the report, and sections of Walnut and 40th streets were closed to vehicles and pedestrians while police investigated the report.
Members of the Philadelphia Bomb Squad arrived on the scene around 1:40 a.m., finding that the device was not an explosive, but simply a battery with wires protruding from it, according to Philadelphia Fire Marshal Vince Heeney.
"It was a hoax," Heeney said.
The device was taped to a Mercedes parked on the second level of the garage, according to University Police Det. Philip Lydon.
"Somebody approached [the Penn Police officer] and said there was a device hanging out the back of the car," Lydon said. The officer "said it looked funky," so he called his supervisor.
While The Freshgrocer was almost immediately evacuated, the offices of the DP -- located at 4015 Walnut Street, next door to the garage and supermarket -- were evacuated at around 1:10 a.m.
The bomb squad was able to determine that the suspicious device was not a bomb at around 1:50 a.m., about 10 minutes after arriving.
"Usually they can look at it and tell it's a hoax," Heeney said.
Police blocked off the intersections of 39th and Walnut streets and 40th and Chestnut streets with squad cars. They cordoned off other intersections with police tape and redirected pedestrians. A line of trolley cars, unable to cross Chestnut, formed between Chestnut and Market streets.
Heeney said authorities were fairly certain it was a hoax from the start, but emergency responders are being extra careful after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Always before and especially now, we take all these seriously," he said.
