Vibrating cell phone causes BIA bomb scare

A vibrating cell phone discarded on Thursday afternoon in a Bangor International Airport trash can prompted police to call in the bomb squad.

At 1:30 p.m., the suspicious-sounding trash can was wheeled from the airport’s terminal outside the main entrance, according to Sgt. Bob Bishop, reading from a report by Officer Dan Scripture.

A three-person bomb squad arrived at 2:20 p.m. and moved the trash can, which janitors had used to gather trash in the airport terminal, 300 to 400 feet away from the building.

The bomb squad used a robot to pick through the trash until they found the “strange noise” culprit – a vibrating cell phone.

“We have to treat all these incidences seriously,” Bishop said.

Vehicle traffic on Godfrey Boulevard was rerouted from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. and the bomb squad had finished the investigation by 5:30 p.m., Bishop said. (TONI-LYNN ROBBINS, BDN)