Another example of geocachers who don't use common sense

Suspicious device was part of game

By: By Brian Day, Correspondent

AZUSA - A suspicious device discovered near a fast-food restaurant Friday turned out to be a target in a high-tech scavenger hunt game, officials said.

The bomb squad responded to the scene after the device was reported to police about 2:20p.m. near an In-N-Out restaurant at 324 S. Azusa Ave., said Azusa police Sgt. Michael Gurbada.

An In-N-Out employee called the Sheriff's Department after seeing a car drive up to the location, leave the metal canister on the ground and drive away, said Gurbada.

After evacuating the restaurant and nearby houses as a precaution, officials from the Los Angeles County Sheriff Arson and Explosives Detail announced the the 2-inch-long cylinder was harmless, and was merely a part of a game known as "geocaching," Gurbada said.

The cylinder was hollow and contained a piece of paper with a log for those who find the device to sign, said Gurbada.

In geocaching, people look up the global coordinates of hidden targets on Web sites, then use global positioning devices to track them down and sign the logs, Gurbada said.

Bomb squad officials said they have responded to similar calls in the past when the scavenger hunt targets were reported as suspicious objects, Gurbada said.

The incident lasted about two hours, said Gurbada.

Please read a post from February 7, 2007 in this blog on what police recommend geocachers do when placing a cache.