Bomb disposal unit safely removes suspicious device from vehicle

Bellevue Police Department’s bomb disposal unit safely removed a potentially explosive device from a stolen vehicle that was towed to the Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD) parking lot on Sept. 2.

MIPD detectives discovered the suspicious device in the passenger area while they were investigating and processing the recovered vehicle out of Bellevue at about 12:15 p.m., according to a MIPD press release.

After the bomb disposal unit arrived following a MIPD call for assistance, a small area of the MIPD parking lot was “cordoned off out of an abundance of caution.” Unit members removed the device from the scene and deemed the rest of the vehicle safe.

Bellevue police will continue to investigate the nature of the device, and MIPD will handle the stolen-vehicle investigation.