Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Bomb squad handles suspicious package on Birch Court By JOHN MUNFORD jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com Several homes on Birch Court were evacuated Friday morning after a suspicious package was found when officials served an eviction notice at a home there. The Clayton County Bomb Squad responded to the scene to dispose of the package, which turned out to be harmless in nature, said Sgt. Belinda McCastle of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department. Fayette County Constable Dennis Combs first noticed the package as he was serving an eviction notice at the residence, McCastle said. The home is just off Ga. Highway 314 north of Fayetteville and southwest of the Pavilion shopping center. After the package was handled by the bomb squad, officials were able to get a better look at it, McCastle said. The package appeared to have a remote control battery pack taped to a remote control model airplane fuel cell that was wrapped in a white bag, McCastle said. Wires were running from the battery pack to the fuel cell, McCastle added. The Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services had crews on the scene standing by in case the package exploded, McCastle said.