ST. GEORGE – A St. George Police officer clearing a traffic stop last night noticed a pile of black cases stacked on the curb and called out the St. George Bomb Squad.
The officer made the traffic stop at 200 East Tabernacle, St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain said. As he was clearing the stop, Despain said “he noticed there black cases neatly stacked in a pile on the curb.”
The cases were in the parking lot of a vacant building, Despain said, and appeared to be out of place so the officer contacted the bomb squad as a precautionary measure.
Police also shut down the area streets, including 100 East to 400 East, as well as 200 East from St. George Boulevard down to 100 South, for a period of time around 11 p.m. pending the investigation.
Officers deployed a bomb robot and x-rayed the cases, discovering that the cases were full of eight-track tapes.
“Nothing harmful or dangerous was found,” Despain said. “It’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
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St. George Police block off 200 East from St. George Boulevard pending Bomb Squad investigation of suspicious cases on Tabernacle Street - cases that proved to be full of 8-track tapes, St. George, Utah, Aug. 28, 2013 | Photo by and courtesy of Bryn M. Parastino, St. George News
St. George Police block off 200 East from St. George Boulevard pending Bomb Squad investigation of suspicious cases on Tabernacle Street - cases that proved to be full of 8-track tapes, St. George, Utah, Aug. 28, 2013 | Photo by and courtesy of Bryn M. Parastino, St. George News
St. George Police initiate Bomb Squad investigation of suspicious cases on Tabernacle Street after making a traffic stop - cases that proved to be full of 8-track tapes, St. George, Utah, Aug. 28, 2013 | Photo by and courtesy of Robert Allen, St. George News
St. George Police initiate Bomb Squad investigation of suspicious cases on Tabernacle Street after making a traffic stop - cases that proved to be full of 8-track tapes, St. George, Utah, Aug. 28, 2013 | Photo by and courtesy of Robert Allen, St. George News
St. George Police initiate Bomb Squad investigation of suspicious cases on Tabernacle Street after making a traffic stop - cases that proved to be full of 8-track tapes, St. George, Utah, Aug. 28, 2013 | Photo by and courtesy of Robert Allen, St. George News
St. George Police block off intersection of 400 East and Tabernacle Street, pending Bomb Squad investigation of suspicious cases that proved to be full of 8-track tapes, St. George, Utah, Aug. 28, 2013 | Photo by and courtesy of Bryn M. Parastino, St. George News
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It is sad, when we came to St. George 15 years ago, you never would of heard of anything like this going on , now you see drug arrests, after drug arrest, assaults on children, domestic violence and much more. When is it going to stop. We should just pick the garbage up and throw it away, in reality the person who left it should have thrown it away themselves. Thank you to the officers who took the time to check this out, we appreciate what you do.
What a ridiculous misuse of public funds! This is how out of control and fear ridden we are as a nation, the POLICE can’t even tell the difference between 8 tracks and bombs… This is NOT a case of better safe than sorry! This is disgusting! WHO is going to bomb a “vacant” apartment building… That thought alone is out of place. Geez people!
*building, sorry it did not say apartment, that was my own assumption… either way, it was a vacant building… :/
Huh.. Maybe the police drpartment should just hire you since you obviously can tell the difference something the blow up and just a case of crap on the side of the road… Or maybe you would voluntarily walk over and open it?? Seein as how you would love to save a buck.. At least everyone went home to their families safe
I do not know the costs involved in closing down multiple city streets, and utilizing a specialized police force, and specialized police technology, but I am fairly certain it cost more than a buck. Your minimization of the cost here entertains me.
Honestly, had I seen the 8 track cases there, I probably would have just gone over and opened them. Does that make me stupid, or naive? Does that mean I trust humanity more than I should? Maybe, but I would rather live in my world where we can basically trust our fellow human being any day of the week, than live in the fear driven world our society has been creating lately.
I too am glad people made it home safely. I just wish it didn’t cost multiple hours devoted by multiple departments, and tons of public funds to make it happen. If that makes me a bad person, so be it!
What costs are you referring to? the cost to call out someone that is specialized to approach suspicious suitcases that look like bombs or the people that had to shut down the roads in the middle of the night? I don’t know about you but I don’t see a problem with them calling out the bomb squad for these situations or utilizing the on duty officers to close down an area if there is a threat. Ill bet this case didn’t look like an 8 track case, hence the reason for calling out all the resources plus look at the location of the case (near the federal building in town) You might want to check all your information before you go off on whether or not police or anyone else should be called to an incident that I’m pretty positive a regular everyday citizen wouldn’t dare approach no matter what you say.
So what if it had been a bomb, and the officer just picked it up thinking it was nothing, and now you are reading a sorry about a cop that died. Really? This is what they are trained to do when they see odd cases, placed in an odd location, in an odd way.
Wow, Carin…. Ignorance is bliss, is it not??? Read carefully, there were three boxes stacked neatly on each other in front of a vacant building. Why would that be? Would you not notice if your neighbor’s trash was out and it was not trash day. INSIDE the boxes were the 8 track tapes which were only discovered after the boxes were x-rayed. Do you know that often times when domestic terrorists want to cause harm to the authorities that they will plant a device where only the police, fire and EMS will respond, then wait for the first responders to arrive before they detonate the second device meant to kill or maim the authorities??? This is a case of good old fashioned police work and better safe than sorry! “Out of control and fear ridden as a nation”? Nope, this is a nation under siege by terrorists both foreign and domestic and this is how we protect our own!
We must also remember that these people make the same amount per hour whether they are riding their cruiser or suited up with their remote controlled tool. It’s all the same at some point…plus what would happen if he checked them and was killed because of the worst case scuba rip…people would’ve been angry because he didn’t do the right thing. Then where would our hard earned money be going…dead police officers family and a very expensive funeral and investigation.
Someone must have left them there after they found that their 8-track player kept skipping and didn’t have a book of matches to shove in the player. Bahahaha (if you are more 40-yrs old, you should be laughing)
Thanks St George Police Dept for taking care of business and doing the right thing. CARIN are you uneducated because you sort of sounds like you might be illiterate otherwise you would have read about all the bombings that have been going on throughout our Nation. Oh, don’t tell me…you voted for Obama and you are on welfare…
Carin, maybe next time the police should call you because of your superhero X-ray vision rather then “misusing public funds” with the bomb squad and a robot to figure out that 8 tracks are not a bomb! Please find it in your heart to forgive them for trying to protect you and yours. You are so clueless.
I think you meant than, not then. Also, when you quote someone, you are supposed to use THEIR words… no I actually mean the words they used, not the paraphrasing of the the words they used. Oh well, what would I know, I’m “clueless”…
Okay, so I am uneducated, illiterate, on welfare, I support Obama, I have a blissful ignorance of the world, and I am not a careful reader. Just want to make sure I have this straight. Thank you all for YOUR uneducated opinions. I want you to know that I appreciate you helping me make part of my point. A part I will get to in just a minute, but first.
Chappy: You are right, and since you were the only person to have a legitimate response, I will be happy to entertain your discussion. I agree, had it been a bomb, I would have felt terrible. I am glad that it wasn’t. I am sorry that it sounded as though I would rather have seen the officer harmed than be safe. That is NOT what I meant at all.
Still, I strongly believe this is a symptom of a national illness. An illness of fear. The fact is, there have been some scares around the nation, and the upcoming conflict with Syria is helping to heighten this already well established fear.
Honestly, I am sad… and a bit disgusted that we have devolved so far as a society that we are reduced to having to call a bomb squad for a stack of 8 track cases left by a vacant building. It seems incredibly extreme, and over-the-top in my humble opinion. Like the first commenter pointed out: There used to be a time when you saw garbage on the side of the road, and you just picked it up and threw it away. It seems like an incredibly expensive venture to have to call in a bomb squad for garbage. Garbage by a vacant building no less.
I am also saddened by the fact that we have devolved so far as a people, that we resort to name calling and accusations to get our own points across.
There have been some really scary things happening all over the world and here at home. It seems to me, that a public place where there are lots of people, like a school, or a public pool, would be more the type of place that somebody would leave a bomb at. The point of terrorism… is to terrorize. Is it not?
I reread what I earlier wrote, and I realize that the discourse that resulted was my own fault. It was early, I was grumpy, and I could have articulated myself better. I accept full responsibility for the backlash.. not the name calling, but the backlash itself.
I can’t help but wonder however if I am a lone buoy floating at sea crying out, “Somethings not right here!” Am I REALLY the only one who sees this as a problem? I read a news report and listened to a 911 call that a 16-year-old girl made, because she had a HUGE spider in her home and didn’t know what to do. An officer actually showed up to her home and killed the spider for her. REALLY?!
I respect our officers. I am grateful for their service! I honor the fact that they literally put their lives on the line for me and my family every day when they step out in that uniform. I have law enforcement friends, and relatives. I know what they go through! I know, because I see it. I hear the stories. I see them aging faster than they should, and hear about the sleep they lose over a particular case. The things they see, that they can never unsee… protects US from having to see them. Do not underestimate my love and admiration for these people! I STILL don’t think a bomb squad should have been needed, and I STILL think that the very idea that the bomb squad was needed is indicative of the fear driven society we are creating for ourselves.
Wake up, because this is the behavior that is used every day to continue to pass laws that take away our rights as American Citizens. The scarier it gets, the more we are willing to sacrifice! ”Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.” ~Benjamin Franklin.
Now, before you all start to jump all over me again, I am WELL aware that this was not a case of ANYONE’S rights being violated, but if you can’t see what I am getting at, and what the connection is in this message, then we are even more lost as a nation than I had realized.
My other point: Fear driven society…
” Do you know that often times when domestic terrorists want to cause harm to the authorities that they will plant a device where only the police, fire and EMS will respond, then wait for the first responders to arrive before they detonate the second device meant to kill or maim the authorities … Nope, this is a nation under siege by terrorists both foreign and domestic and this is how we protect our own!”
“…you would have read about all the bombings that have been going on throughout our Nation…”
Thank you guys. Case and point!
Let me just remind you Carin that the corner of 200 E. Tabernacle you have the Federal building on one side and the County Administration building on the other. Sure the package may have been in front of an abondoned building but I believe the response was justified given the location. Sure we live in a fear stricken society. But let me remind you there are still wacko’s out there that dislike America, our government and our freedom. I agree it is sad that we live in a society where the bomb squad has to be called out for a case of 8 track tapes, but we did not get to this point alone, we got here because of what happened on 9/11 and more recently in Boston. I believe we have not seen more terrorist attacks on our home soil because of the vigilant efforts of those in our public safety departments. My hat is of to them and I hope they continue to be vigilant in there efforts.
Thank you for your well thought out, intelligent response to my opinion. First, I would like to point out that the article did not mention the federal building or the county administration building being located at that juncture. It only said the officer was “…clearing a traffic stop…” where he noticed that there were some black cases stacked on top of each other near a vacant building. I do agree that the additional information you just shared changes y opinion a little. I do not LIVE in St. George, only southern Utah, so I am not familiar with where important buildings like that are located. Maybe I could have taken he time to research that, but my opinion was based strictly off of what I read in the above article.
I would like to point out that what happened at the Boston Marathon, and on 9/11 took place in highly populated areas. Also, the World Trade Center has ALWAYS been a target, for obvious reasons. To be completely honest, as far as the a large portion of American public is concerned, the jury is still out on whether or not that was terrorists, or an inside job. The immediate passage of the civil-right-stripping Patriot Act (that was “for our own protection”) followed very closely behind the attack, a well as the establishment of Homeland Security who also has an unconstitutional reign over our civil rights. There are a lot of other interesting points and issues that are directly related to the collapse of the towers and the days leading up to the attacks that have caused even the most staunch Bush supporters to raise at least one eyebrow.
Now I am well aware that articulating this frame of thought on this forum will erupt yet another slew of “hemmers” and Hawers” ready to attack me yet again, but honestly, the way I see it… it doesn’t really matter what side of the debate you fall on there, the point is that a debate even exists.
I would like to say that I am also grateful that our officers are vigilant in their duties. I would like to say that there should always be a balance to that vigilance. Considering the new information in regard to the location (and I thank you for that) I am willing to admit that my initial response may have been a bit hasty. Still, based on what I had to go from, I would say that I posed an incredibly valid point that I still stand behind, despite the backlash of others.
Great job SGPD and bomb squad!
Thanks St. George Police! 🙂 Its nice to know that we have watchful men/women out there taking care of St.George and doing their duty/job to protect our community! Rather have a little scare i.e shut down an area to find out to be eight tracks are in suspicious boxes..than to have a horrible situation i.e. not checking…building blows up..or going in and being blown to smithereens…and have the worst news to tell…Bravo, well done, great use of training and judgement! 🙂
Months ago, I saw a box of LPs on Main Street, half block north of the Tabernacle roundabout. I wonder if the bomb squad retrieved them?