ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300037
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MANASSAS
SOURCE: Associated Press
The box had no business lurking beneath a van in a residential subdivision.
Police were called, bomb squad officers arrived, people were evacuated and the entire street was swathed in yellow crime-scene tape.
And when the suspicious package was finally opened Wednesday, it was all there: sweet, little chocolate doughnut morsels, a few with a light dusting of coconut.
``That's unbelievable,'' said one of the evacuees, Michael Barring, laughing as police held up an X-ray of the box's contents. ``We've been standing out here in the sun all day when we could have been enjoying those doughnuts.''
The woman who found the package told police she is involved in a dispute with a former employee who once assaulted her, Prince William County police spokeswoman Kim Chinn said.
When she went to her van Wednesday morning, she noticed the box. After picking it up and feeling it's weight, she quickly put it down and called police, Chinn said.
A slew of officers and firefighters arrived, positioning themselves a safe distance away.
No one got close enough to see the greasy spots soaking through the paper box. Police asked residents of 25 homes to leave until they figured out what was inside.
``It's better to be safe than sorry,'' Chinn said. She said that police have to respond cautiously to any possible bomb, but ``fortunately we don't get too many.''
A little after 2 p.m., police took an X-ray of the box and saw the round doughnut holes inside.
No charges have been filed in the incident, Chinn said, and it's not known who placed the doughnuts under the van.
And what happened to the tasty doughnut holes? They were left on the sidewalk surrounded by hungry evacuees, police officers and firefighters.
``They're gone, so someone took them,'' said Chinn.
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB