Suspicious device found in car in Yonkers under investigation, called safe

YONKERS, New York (WABC) -- Police have determined that a suspicious device found in a car in Yonkers Wednesday morning is safe.

Investigators say the device was a propane tank with wires attached to it.

Around 7:30 a.m., police responded to a report of a device near 270 North Broadway. A 32-year-old woman said she found the item in the trunk of her car, which was parked behind the building where she lives.

When she got into the car, she said she heard something rattling in the trunk, went to see what it was, saw the device and called police.

Apartments inside 270 North Broadway were evacuated as a precaution and the area was closed traffic. Also as a precaution, Palisades Preparatory School was put on lockdown.

The Westchester County Police Bomb Squad responded and determined the device was safe.

"It looked like an explosive device, there were wires and other components that made it appear to be a rudimentary type explosive device in the trunk of the vehicle," said Yonkers Police Commissioner Charles Gardner.

The woman who found the device in her trunk doesn't know how it got there. Investigators said it was made to look like a bomb.

Authorities have been questioning the woman and her husband, who have lived in their two-bedroom, fifth-floor home in the building for just a few months, according to a management worker. Both of their vehicles, with Florida license plates, were towed away.

The investigation is ongoing and no one has been charged at this time. Police searched an apartment at 270 North Broadway, a six-story co-op building.

"We've got 74 units in this building. So when they first came they just evacuated one side, and then they evacuated the whole building. They also wanted to turn the gas off in the whole building," said building superintendent Oscar Gilcrest.

As for the neighbors, it was a rough morning.

"I'm just praying that it don't go off and that somebody can get to it before it goes off, remove the wires and do whatever they have to do and evidently that's what they did," said building resident Jerry Rumley.

Anyone with information can contact the Detective Division at 914-377-7724, all calls will remain confidential.