LAKEWOOD – The device wasn’t a pipe bomb, but an unexpected flare from 1967.
Lakewood Police were called to Atlantic Coast Recycling, 611 New Hampshire Avenue, after 8 p.m. March 27 to investigate what appeared to be a homemade pipe bomb.
Law enforcement officials interviewed employees and obtained a photograph of the suspected bomb, a cylinder about two feet long with wires attached. The building was evacuated and New Hampshire Avenue closed to vehicles.
The item was determined safe and will be destroyed by the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad.
Lakewood Police, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Unit, New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office were on the scene. Officials alerted the New Jersey State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the A.T.F.
The all-clear was given around 9:45 p.m. and New Hampshire Avenue reopened.
The story was first reported by The Lakewood Scoop.
