SUSPICIOUS “SANTERIA” PACKAGE FOUND AT ROCKLAND COURTHOUSE

BY CAROL MCILMURRAY

NEW CITY- Likely Santeria artifacts found by Rockland Sherriff’s bomb squad in a suspicious package at the County Courthouse have been deemed to be “left intentionally to cause fear and alarm.”

The ritualistic parcel was found the day before Thanksgiving directly facing the front door of the justice hall near a stone bench during a routine sweep of the county property.

A Rockland Sherriff bomb squad detective and his canine partner, Kelsey, were flagged down to look at the suspect package. At 11:18 a.m. the package was discovered and a call was placed for bomb squad techs with specialized equipment to respond to the scene. A bomb technician dressed in a blast suit used a handheld x-ray machine to determine the object was not explosive in nature.

The bomb squad did rule that the package was a likely Santeria artifact and it was knowingly left at the building to create panic and fear. The items were collected by the Sherriff Department for further investigation.

There was very little disruption to courthouse activities as the strange package was left outside a part of the building with no court in session.