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Suspicious package safely inspected in Niagara Falls

Mike Desmond/WBFO News

Much of Downtown Niagara Falls was blocked off Monday as police from six agencies probed a large backpack apparently abandoned next to an important electrical structure.  The all-clear was given following a tense inspection of the pack.

The events started around 1:30 when police were called, either by a city ranger or a visiting public official, about the backpack, described by Police Superintendent Bryan DalPorto as more like a hiking pack than a student pack.

Bomb robots from the State Police and the Erie County Sheriff's Department were used to safely inspect the pack.

"Before we send a person down there (to inspect the pack), we want to go through a progression of checking the bag with the robots," DalPorto said.

"The dogs are usually the first step. And depending on what went on here today, the dogs weren't even able to go down by the bag. So, depending on what goes on really determines whether the the dogs will actually go down to the actual bag and today they didn't. So, they used the robot."

The weekend explosion in New York City, DalPorto, added to the tension and the level of precaution involved in the inspection.

"The day and age that we live in and the threats we live under, this was absolutely an appropriate response," said DalPorto of the response that called upon personnel from the State Police, Niagara County Sheriff's deputies, State Parks Police, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and his own Niagara Falls City Police Department.

In the end, the bag contained a cell phone and some personal items.
 

 

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.