Device in trash not a pipe bomb, police say

A plastic tube with end caps and a hole apparently for a fuse was not the pipe bomb it appeared to be, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. But the threat closed down a busy Spokane Valley thoroughfare – Sullivan Road – for nearly four hours this morning while the suspicious device that was found in a garbage can was investigated, said Sgt. Dave Reagan. An employee emptying garbage containers about 7:15 a.m. at Einstein’s Car Wash, 307 N. Sullivan Road, found what looked like a pipe bomb, Reagan said. “The device was made of plastic and was about 12 inches long and 1¼ inches in diameter,” Reagan said. Sullivan Road was closed while bomb technicians and Spokane Valley police investigated and eventually destroyed the item, Reagan said. Afterward, Sgt. Mike Kittilstved said, “It looked like an actual pipe bomb,” though there was no evidence it was an explosive. Roads were re-opened to traffic shortly after 11 a.m.