Geocacher flees, police lock down schools in Colo Spgs

[+K-SuGoBlue]

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The Colorado Springs Police Department's bomb squad investigated a suspicious package Monday morning, causing a road to close and four schools to go on lockdown.

 

According to a neighbor, a man was walking behind homes in the 8900 block of Estebury Circle when a homeowner sitting on his deck questioned the man. When the homeowner started questioning him, the man dropped a mason-type jar from his hand and fled the scene. The homeowner thought the jar, which had tape around it, was suspicious and called police. A bomb squad robot destroyed the package, which was found in a ditch between homes.

 

Nobody was injured, and police said the package turned out to be part of an online geocaching game.

 

Police shut down Research Parkway in both directions west of Austin Bluffs Parkway as the bomb squad investigated the package. The road is now open.

 

Timberview Middle School, Liberty High School, Prarie View Elementary School and Explorer Elementary School were on lockdown until about 9:40 a.m. as a precaution, according to police.

[+JesandTodd]

Nosy neighbors....

[+DragonsWest]

Here now! What are you posting on that computer?!?

 

I'll just notify Robert Novak .. wait, he's dead .. well, hold on, we'll get this on the front page of the Wall Street Journal or on MSNBC and have you lot sorted!

 

[+davesterx]

The story behind the story is that according to the logs of the cache, geocachers finding this cache, had, for several finds, reported that they were confronted by neighbors. It appears as if nobody stood their ground and actually calmly explained that they were geocaching and the container was hidden as part of the game. I lay bets that the property owner did not give permission and even if they did, the cache owner should have recognized the signs.

I had a situation once where I accidentally stepped onto someones private property because the coordinates I had were wrong and they came out and irrationally threatened to kill me without even giving me a chance to apologize and explain my error. But even in the face of such threats, I didn't run (he didn't have his gun!). I repeatedly apologized and got back onto public property as quickly and calmly as I could.

The point here is that a serious negative exposure of the geocaching community could have been defused without calling in the bomb squad. It really is a lesson for all of us to learn from.

 

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The Colorado Springs Police Department's bomb squad investigated a suspicious package Monday morning, causing a road to close and four schools to go on lockdown.

 

According to a neighbor, a man was walking behind homes in the 8900 block of Estebury Circle when a homeowner sitting on his deck questioned the man. When the homeowner started questioning him, the man dropped a mason-type jar from his hand and fled the scene. The homeowner thought the jar, which had tape around it, was suspicious and called police. A bomb squad robot destroyed the package, which was found in a ditch between homes.

 

Nobody was injured, and police said the package turned out to be part of an online geocaching game.

 

Police shut down Research Parkway in both directions west of Austin Bluffs Parkway as the bomb squad investigated the package. The road is now open.

 

Timberview Middle School, Liberty High School, Prarie View Elementary School and Explorer Elementary School were on lockdown until about 9:40 a.m. as a precaution, according to police.