Beeping item in trash turns out to be security device

Published 4:35 pm Wednesday, May 21, 2008

LYNNWOOD – Police and fire crews were called to investigate a beeping, suspicious device with wires hanging out of it stashed in a garbage can in the 19000 block of Alderwood Mall Parkway this afternoon.

Someone called police just before 4 p.m. to alert officials about the suspicious-looking item, Lynnwood police spokeswoman Shannon Sessions said.

Investigators quickly determined it was a security device used by retailers to try to prevent shoplifters, she said. The bomb squad was not called out.