A member of the State Police bomb squad emerging from a Red Bank storm sewer with a possible hand grenade Tuesday afternoon.
Police closed the intersection while awaiting the arrival of the bomb squad, above; the suspect item as seen in the sewer, below. (Photos by John T. Ward and RBPD. Click to enlarge.)
Workers from the borough public utilities department encountered the object while doing routine sewer maintenance at River Street and Tilton Avenue, police Chief Darren McConnell told redbankgreen.
They could not immediately determine if it was a toy, prop or the real thing, and so police called in the bomb squad, he said.
After retrieval, the muck-covered object was found to be made of metal. But whether it was a genuine explosive was still uncertain, McConnell said.
The device will be detonated at a State Police facility for examination, he said.
(Top photo above by John T. Ward; above by RBPD. Click to enlarge.)