Suspicious device turns out to be hoax
<p>Police stopped traffic on Government Way Saturday after a fake explosive device was found at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office campus. A bomb squad determined that the device was a hoax.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - An object that looked like an explosive device was found Saturday morning at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office campus on Government Way, but investigators determined it was a fake.
Sheriff's Labor Program personnel were performing early spring cleaning about 9:15 when one of the participants found the device partially protruding out of a drain pipe, according to the sheriff's department.
The device was described as a wireless phone attached to a red stick.
The Spokane City/County Bomb Squad used a robot to dismantle the device, deputies said, and identified it as a hoax. The device was actually a road flare with a battery pushed in at one end, attached to a cell phone, deputies said.
The Coeur d'Alene Police Department will conduct a follow-up investigation. Placing a fake explosive device is a felony in Idaho, the sheriff's department said.
A portion of Government Way was closed for a few hours Saturday while the device was being investigated. Traffic was stopped at Kathleen and Dalton avenues.
The road re-opened Saturday afternoon.