A Yonkers man found what looked like a land mine in his grandfather's attic -- but instead of leaving it be and calling cops, he brought it to a firehouse.
That dopey move shut down the firehouse and forced cops to cordon off a busy business area for nearly an hour and a half this afternoon while the Westchester bomb squad investigated.
At about 1:25 p.m. on Wednesday, the man "non-chalantly" walked in to Fire Station 13 at 340 Kimball Ave. with the suspected bomb in box, said Yonkers Police Lt. Pat McCormack.
The area was cleared at about 2:50 p.m. "It doesn't look like it was an operable device," McCormack said.
McCormack said it's better if people who find suspected explosives leave them alone and call police.
The emergency caused plenty of disruption for area merchants.
"They are being very cautious," said Rich Paterno, manager of Tombolino Restaurant, next door to the firehouse.
The whole block was shut down, and people in the area were told "to stay put under cover," Paterno said.
Courtesy of McClatchy-Tribune News Service
