Suspicious behavior and a mysterious item stashed in the base of a light pole near Tim Hortons caused the Wright-Patterson Bomb Squad to be called Sunday night, but the entire incident is part of an "innocent game."
According to Urbana Police Division Lt. Matt Lingrell, a Tim Hortons employee reportedly saw someone put something inside the base of the light pole around 5:20 p.m. The item appeared to be film canisters taped together and held to the pole with magnets, stoking fears of a bomb. UPD evacuated Tim Hortons, Odd Lots and Save-A-Lot while the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Champaign County Sheriff's Office assisted to block intersections nearby on Scioto Street.
When the bomb squad arrived and examined the item, it was found to be part of Geocache, a worldwide game of hiding and seeking "treasure." A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache's existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS unit can then try to locate the geocache, according to the Web site www.geocaching.com.
The unit was placed in the base of a light pole near Tim Hortons on Nov. 2, according to Lingrell, and the individual who aroused suspicion on Sunday was the innocent "player" who found it.
Lingrell said there are other Geocache items planted around the region as part of the game, which dictates that "explosives, ammunition, knives, drugs and alcohol should not be placed in a cache," the Web site explains.
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