VERO BEACH — Authorities investigated a possible bomb threat Monday after an unidentified man walked into an urgent care clinic and made threats to employees.
Police shut down 16th Street for several hours and called the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad. The bomb squad used a robot to inspect the suspicious device that was placed in a bag in a sports utility vehicle.
The robot removed the bag from the vehicle and the bomb squad used their own small explosive to blow up the bag. The team determined the bag “did not contain explosives,” said St. Lucie County Sheriff’s officials.
“We are pleased to have a bomb disposal team that is so high-skilled and able to rapidly respond to these incidents across the Treasure Coast,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said. “It’s just one more way our Treasure Coast law enforcement agencies work together to keep our communities safe.”
Vero Beach police were called to the incident about 2 p.m. Monday at 16th Street and Old Dixie Highway, officers said. Police learned a 76-year-old man went to Vero Beach Urgent Family Care on 20th Street earlier for treatment.
The man was carrying a small black box, police Master Officer Darrell Rivers said. Rivers said the man made comments to staff he was feeling sick.
The man said if he didn’t get any care, the numbers on the box would tick down to four and something bad would happen, Rivers said. The man then jumped in his gold Chevy Tahoe with the box and drove to Old Dixie Highway and 16th Street, where officers detained him.
“We’re treating it as an active bomb scene,” Rivers said as the incident was unfolding.
Vero Beach Police Department and St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Bomb squad are inspecting a gold Chevy Tahoe that possibly has an explosive device inside. Police received reports of an unidentified man who made threats to employees at an urgent clinic and showed them a small black box, indicating it was a bomb. The man drove from the area with the device and was stopped and detained by police near 16th Street and Old Dixie Highway. The road was expected to be closed for several hours as the bomb squad investigates. #VeroNews
Posted by Nick Samuel on Monday, December 16, 2019
East and westbound traffic on 16th Street was blocked from Old Dixie Highway to Highland Avenue for about six hours. The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad set up a mobile command station at the scene.
The bomb squad used a robot to inspect the possible explosive device hidden in a bag inside the vehicle before removing the bag, officials said. The team then used their own small explosive to blow up the bag in the roadway, according to Indian River County Fire Rescue crews and police.
.@stluciesheriff Bomb squad used their own explosive to detonate a bag containing a possible bomb. #VeroNews pic.twitter.com/tyOWyhJTS4
— Nicholas Samuel (@JournalistNickS) December 16, 2019
The bomb squad continued to search the vehicle Monday night and did not find any other suspicious items, sheriff’s officials said. Indian River County patrol K-9 units, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also at the scene investigating.
Police took the man to a facility for a mental health evaluation. The roadway reopened about 8 p.m., Rivers said.
Photos by Kaila Jones and provided by Vero Beach Police Department
