Beeping Phone in Mailbox Causes Bomb Scare

UPDATED—12:40 a.m.

A beeping mobile phone caused a bit of a frenzy late Monday night in downtown Hoboken.

According to police radio there was a beeping sound coming from a mailbox on Washington and Newark Streets and the Jersey City bomb squad was called around 10 p.m. by the police and fire department, "in an abundance of caution," according to city spokesman Juan Melli.

Around 11:30, officers determined that it was a false alarm.

Around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday,  Melli said the suspicious, beeping package had been identified as "a Blackberry (mobile phone) with an alert reminder to take medicine." It's still unclear why it was put there, and to whom the phone belongs.

A little before midnight, the Jersey City squad was X-raying envelopes from the mailbox, which Melli described as "just running through the drill." 

The squad approached the mailbox with a robot on Monday night to get out the suspicious package.

Hoboken police said they were not authorized to answer any questions about the case.