Pest deterrent mistaken for bomb in Slatington

A device found in a Slatington alley this morning was not an explosive, but rather an pest deterrent.

Borough police Chief Dave Rachman said police received a call at 4:45 a.m. from a neighbor who reported seeing a suspicious item in a wooded area across the alley behind his house to the rear of the 1200 block of Main Street.

Rachman said an officer was dispatched to the location. The item turned out to be a 6-by-6 plastic box that had a flashing light on it and was emitting some kind of low frequency sound.

The item wasn’t familiar to the officer, and the police department wasn’t sure what exactly it was, so he said police called the Slatington Fire Department, and they suggested police call the Allentown Bomb Squad.

Rachman said police gave the Allentown Bomb Squad a description, and they arrived about a half-hour later.

“They used their robot to look at it up close with their camera, recovered it, put it in a secure location, examined it, and (determined) that it was not an explosive device,” Rachman said.

Instead, he said the item was determined to be some type of solar electronic pest repeller.

Rachman said there were no injuries, and that police cleared the scene at 8:30.

“Everything is fine,” he said.

Also assisting at the scene were the Slatington Fire Department, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Rachman said.