Police: Suspicious Beeping Sound Coming From Mailbox Turns Out To Be Low Battery On Mail Scanner
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh Police closed off an area of Brighton Heights Tuesday morning after a suspicious package was reported beeping in a mailbox.
The "suspicious" sound coming from a USPS mailbox prompted Pittsburgh Police and a bomb squad to respond. Brighton Road and Benton Avenue were closed off to traffic for hours while the incident was investigated.
"Cordoned off the area, to make sure the residents were safe and no one could come close to the mailbox," Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Jason Lando said.
Police were extra cautious after someone reported the odd sounds around 6:30 a.m., a sound that just didn't seem right coming from the blue mailbox.
"Felt it to be suspicious and did what they should've done and called 911," said Cmdr. Lando.
"Someone was aware enough to see something suspicious and hear the beeping and calling, that's what we need," said Muhammad Rasul, who lives in Brighton Heights.
The bomb squad was brought in, along with technology that's essential in situations like this one.
"Send the robot in to investigate," said Cmdr. Lando. "A few moments ago, you saw the robot was kind of driving down the street with the device in its clamp."
Police, Fire, EMS & Postal Police responded to the 3800 block of Brighton Rd. for a suspicious beeping noise coming from a mailbox around 6:20 a.m.
The Bomb Squad found it was from a device used to scan mail that a letter carrier had left behind.
➡️https://t.co/TLUHazIcpR pic.twitter.com/Bc5rTRgZe9
— Pittsburgh Police (@PghPolice) July 14, 2020
That device? Nothing serious. It turned out to be a mail scanner. It was beeping because its battery power was low.
"I'm very happy because kids are around here, the bus stop is here, it could've been anything," said Rasul.
