University Police have interviewed a man in connection with Wednesday morning's bomb scare at the parking garage at 40th and Walnut streets, but no one has been arrested.
The scare was caused when someone noticed a suspicious device attached to a parked car in the garage above The Freshgrocer supermarket at 4001 Walnut St. and notified police.
The incident, which was ultimately ruled a hoax, resulted in the evacuation of The Freshgrocer for an hour and a half early Wednesday morning from around 12:30 to 2 a.m. The Daily Pennsylvanian offices, located at 4015 Walnut St., next door to the supermarket and garage complex, were evacuated for 50 minutes, from 1:10 to 2 a.m.
Det. Supervisor Frank DeMeo said the owner of the car the device was attached to was tracked down in short order and brought to University Police headquarters at 4040 Chestnut St. for an interview.
"He's been talked to," DeMeo said. "Nobody's been arrested."
Det. Ray Rodman described the vehicle as a silver late-model Mercedes.
Rodman, who is in charge of the investigation, would not release the identity of the car's owner, but said he is a Philadelphia resident.
The device, described by DeMeo as "some kind of capacitor" with wires attached to it, was taped to the back of the Mercedes.
After the Philadelphia Bomb Squad arrived on the scene at about 1:40 a.m., the device was determined to be a hoax and, according to DeMeo, was removed from the vehicle by the squad.
From the nature of the device, DeMeo said the investigation is proceeding with the assumption that the hoax was planned.
"Somebody intentionally did that," DeMeo said.
But according to Rodman, anybody could have taped the device to the car.
"We're checking the video cameras in the area for possible suspects and witnesses," Rodman said. "Anybody could have been walking through the garage and placed that on the car."
Penn Police patrols have been increased in the area, but not as a result of the hoax, according to DeMeo.
The increased police presence "has been ongoing since September 11," DeMeo said, referring to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington last month.
While patrons of The Freshgrocer and the supermarket's employees were understandably shaken by the scare on Wednesday, according to owner Pat Burns, no one is afraid for their safety.
"We're not scared much by that," Burns said. "It takes a lot more than that to scare us."
