Boston bomb squad destroys suspicious backpacks

BOSTON – A man taken into custody near the Boston Marathon finish line late Tuesday, the anniversary of the deadly pressure cooker bombings, had a rice cooker in his backpack and was being charged with possession of a hoax device, police said.

The man was stopped by an officer who saw him acting suspiciously, including walking down the middle of a street barefoot in pouring rain, police Superintendent Randall Halstead said. The man dropped the backpack and told the officer it contained a rice cooker, he said.

The incident took place hours after ceremonies to mark last year’s Boston Marathon bombings, in which two pressure-cooker bombs hidden in backpacks exploded, killing three people near the finish line and injuring more than 260 others.

The backpack Tuesday night was blown up by the bomb squad as a precaution as was a second unattended backpack found nearby.

Associated Press