Merced police investigate ‘suspicious package’ at downtown Bank of America

Update: A suspicious package has been determined not to be a threat at the downtown Merced Bank of America, according to the Merced Police Department.

Lt. Dan Dabney said officers responded at about 1 p.m. Tuesday after Bank of America employees reported a suspicious bag inside the bank.

“Patrol officers initially responded and made contact with the bank. They were not able to determine who the bag belonged to, as a part of our procedures the Bomb Squad responded out in order to review and see what the situation was,” Dabney said.

Since police were not able to determine who the bag belonged to, the Bomb Squad utilized a robot to remove the bag and dispersed the contents within it, ultimately determining it was not an explosive or dangerous contents, according to Dabney.

According to Dabney, a charge was used to open the bag, allowing police to determine what was inside. Video surveillance was not immediately available to police.

According to police, it is unknown why the bag was left in the location.

“The contents within it definitely made it a little bit more suspicious than normal but it definitely wasn’t anything that was going to harm anybody,” Dabney said.

Original report:

Merced police responded Tuesday afternoon to the downtown Bank of America in the 800 block of West Main Street to investigate a suspicious package.

The department’s Bomb Squad responded to the scene with its robot.

Police have closed off the area and are asking members of the public to avoid the area.

More details will be posted as they become available.

This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 3:37 PM.