CLEARLAKE — A suspicious package delivered Thursday to the Clearlake Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic on Lakeshore Drive caused the Clearlake Police Department (CPD) to lockdown the clinic and close Lakeshore Drive off to traffic before the package was deemed unsuspicious.
The package was sent from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in San Francisco and was delivered to the clinic, located at 15145 Lakeshore Drive, between 11 a.m. and noon, according to CPD Sgt. Nick Bennett.
“It (the package) was making noises,” Bennett said. “The address on it was handwritten, which was a little out of the ordinary. It was suspicious in nature and they (the Clearlake VA clinic) weren”t expecting anything (to be delivered).”
Bennett said VA workers inside the building secured the area and notified CPD and the Lake County Fire Protection District.
“We secured the area,” Bennett said.
The building was evacuated and cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape for approximately three hours. Lakeshore Drive was shut down between Old Highway 53 and W. 40th Avenue for more than one hour, from approximately 2 to 3:15 p.m. CPD officers diverted traffic away from the area. Bennett said the surrounding businesses were made aware of the situation.
He said the VA is federal property so federal agencies needed to be notified as well.
“We”ve notified the FBI, federal EOD (Explosion Ordinance Disposal) military bomb disposal,” Bennett said.
Bennett said CPD was also in contact with the San Francisco VA to see if the package did originate from their facility at Fort Miley.
At approximately 3:15 p.m., the all-clear was sounded. The clinic and Lakeshore Drive were re-opened.
Officials at the VA in San Francisco were able to confirm the package did originate from their facility, according to CPD Sgt. Rodd Joseph.
“They have confirmed that the package actually was shipped from one of their facilities to the Clearlake clinic,” Joseph said. “Now that the package has been identified, it”s no longer suspicious and so we”re clearing the scene.”
Joseph said he did not know what was inside the package. He said federal agencies that may have been on their way to the county were notified the incident was concluded.
Lucas Coulter of the VA law enforcement directed comments to the VA”s Public Affairs office.
Kellie Mendonca, a public affairs specialist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, said two packages were sent, which CPD and VA law enforcement investigated.
“One was a defibrillator,” Mendonca said. “The defibrillator was emitting a faint beeping sound. The other package contained paperwork.”
Mendonca said the VA evacuated the building in the interest of safety.
“We wanted to ensure patient and staff safety above all,” she said.
Mendonca said the VA notified patients who were scheduled for appointments at the clinic of the closure. She said the Clearlake VA clinic will reopen Friday at its normal time of 8 a.m.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at Kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Follow on Twitter: @KevinNHume.
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