Suspicious package found in Clovis not a threat to public, police say

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- It was a heavy police presence north of Herndon in Clovis Monday evening.

Just before 5 pm, someone called 911 reporting they'd witnessed a driver stop near the intersection of Willow and Spruce and leave a suspicious box in on the sidewalk before driving off.

Officers called in the bomb squad.

"There's a lot of different factors that go into a situation like this," says Clovis Police Sgt. Jim Koch. "They have to render the item safe before there's any ability for them to work on it."

It took hours to assess the situation and suit up before approaching the box.

They determined it was a safe and to make sure it wasn't a danger to the public, they had to get it open.

"Right now, it appears the items inside of this safe were just personal items," Koch said. "It doesn't appear there was anything dangerous or illegal."

Police cleared the scene around 9 pm.

Officers are checking area surveillance footage to try to identify the person who left the safe. But the only charge they're likely to face at this time is for littering.