Pipe bomb removed from Safeway in Arapahoe County for further investigation

Arapahoe County investigators are taking a closer look at a pipe bomb found behind the Safeway near Broadway and Mineral Tuesday. The device was spotted near a dumpster outside the southwest corner of the building by a contract worker for Safeway around 12:30 p.m.

Police in Littleton sent out a heads up about a heavy law enforcement presence near the intersection of East Mineral Avenue and South Broadway on Tuesday afternoon. They said a contractor working at Safeway found a device that looked like a pipe bomb and reported it to police. The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office bomb squad determined it was a pipe bomb.

"I started seeing police car after police car coming down and I'm like where are they all coming from or going," said Lauren Hayes, manager at nearby Aura Jewelry.

Next door, Kelly Capansky, owner of Blend Nutrition, said, "it started to raise questions as soon as I saw the bomb squad and everything else coming in."

The first arriving officer was a former explosives expert with the Marines and recognized the device right away, according to Littleton Police public information officer Sheera Poelman.

"It was a live bomb," Poelman said. "We're still working to discover the exact type of explosives that were inside that pipe bomb."

Outside was an egg timer that was not functioning. The pipe from a distance appeared to be metal and capped.

Copter4 flew over the area which showed the bomb squad had deployed a robot to investigate the device on the outside of the store. Police say that because of the type of device that was found and the type of building there, the Safeway was never closed.

The Safeway was not evacuated and business continued as normal due to the fact that the bomb was behind the building outside cinder block walls. Investigators were seeking video from a nearby church and asked the public for tips.

"We're going to review everything that we possibly can to determine when and how long it has been here," said Poelman.

Arpahoe County bomb squad investigators planned to examine the bomb for possible DNA material. The FBI was informed and on scene in the afternoon, but not yet part of the investigation.

Littleton Police said there were no known threats made to people or businesses in the area.