Mystery Substances Found At East Bay Police Stations
HAYWARD (CBS SF) -- A fourth report of a mysterious substance delivered to a police department in Alameda County came in Friday afternoon, a county fire spokeswoman said.
Just after 3:05 p.m., Alameda County's hazardous materials team responded to the Union City Police Department in the 34000 block of Niles-Alvarado Road, county fire spokeswoman Aisha Knowles said.
In Berkeley, another package carrying an unknown substance was reported in the building at 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way at 2:15 p.m., Berkeley police said.
The department's building was partially evacuated, a police officer said.
Knowles said county fire crews were working with Berkeley firefighters to identify the substance.
Earlier, the county hazmat team and firefighters responded to the San Leandro police station at 901 E. 14th St. after an unknown substance was reported there around 1:45 p.m., Knowles said.
The substance has since been tested and deemed harmless, she said.
This morning a powdery substance was also delivered to the Hayward Police Department.
Authorities evacuated the first floor of the Police Department around 10 a.m. after a white powdery substance was detected in an envelope, fire Capt. Thor Poulsen said.
A woman clerk in her mid 30s received an envelope with no return address delivered by the U.S. Postal Service and detected a white powdery substance, Poulsen said. Some of the substance then leaked out, he said.
An Alameda County hazardous materials team arrived at the police station at 300 West Winton Ave. around 10:15 a.m. and entered the building wearing protective clothing at 11:32 a.m., Poulsen said.
The hazmat team retrieved a sample and tested it for anthrax or any lethal substance, Poulsen said. Tests for anthrax came up negative and the substance is not a lethal dosage, he said.
The substance will continue to be tested to determine what it is, Poulsen said.
Neither the clerk nor anyone else on the first floor of the station was injured, Poulsen said. No one in the upper levels were affected, he said.
The first floor was still under evacuation until cleanup is complete, Poulsen said.
Knowles did not immediately know if the four incidents are connected.
Berkeley police said they were in contact with the Hayward and San Leandro police departments to determine if there is a link.
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