After scare, bomb squad blows up beer

Cooler was near graffiti sprayed on utility box

Friday, June 13, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by JOHN WHARTON A spray-painted utility box sits along McIntosh Road near the Hillville area. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

‘‘There were some cans of beer inside of it,” Joseph Zurolo, deputy state fire marshal, said Thursday.

A Verizon employee spotted spray-painted words on the box, including the word ‘‘blood,” and the nearby cooler at about 9 a.m. Wednesday, authorities report, and the state officers responded to St. Mary’s by car and helicopter from Prince Frederick, Salisbury, Elkton and Baltimore⁄Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport outside of Baltimore.

St. Mary’s sheriff’s deputies checked four nearby residences, evacuating an occupant from one of them, and the roadway was shut down for about a half hour at midday as the cooler was examined and destroyed. ‘‘I think it may have been some teenagers messing around. It seems they hang around that equipment,” Zurolo said. ‘‘I don’t think there was any intent that anything was going to happen. In this day and age, you can’t take any chances.” The area was cleared for ‘‘just enough time for us to use [a] robot,” he said, ‘‘and remotely destruct the package. One of our guys was dressed in a protective suit.” The suited officer placed a water-bottle device by the cooler. ‘‘The water pressure is propelled through the package,” Zurolo said, ‘‘with some explosives.”

Sheriff’s deputy Michael Harrison responded to the initial report of the incident. Sheriff’s deputy Cindy Allen said the agency drove a deputy fire marshal arriving at the St. Mary’s airport to the scene. ‘‘We gave support by making sure the road was blocked off,” Allen said, ‘‘and evacuating the surrounding residences.”

The bomb-squad robot was driven to the scene from the Maryland State Police barrack in Prince Frederick, Zurolo said. He said the markings on the utility box had no clear significance. ‘‘Nowadays,” he said, ‘‘there’s graffiti being sprayed everywhere.”