A NJ Transit bus was stopped and searched along Route 9 in Marlboro on Thursday morning after a concerned passenger reported a possible suspicious device on board.

Marlboro Police Captain Fred Reck said that an Israeli student who arrived in the United States earlier on Thursday morning was riding the bus to Lakewood carrying a clock on his lap.   The clock drew suspicion from another passenger, who alerted police and the bus was detained along the southbound side of Route 9 at Route 520, (Newman Springs Road, near Route 18) shutting down traffic in both directions.

All 15 passengers were evacuated from the bus as NJ Transit bomb sniffing dogs and the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad searched the bus and its cargo, Reck said.  The search yielded no evidence and the student cooperated fully with police, Reck said.

It wasn't immediately clear from the information Reck provided what seemed suspicious about the clock.

Route 9 was closed in both directions a 8:45 a.m. causing delays for several miles in both directions.

New Jersey State Police on their Facebook page wrote that "without a doubt this was a good call" by whoever contacted police from the bus.

"It's the way it's supposed to work," state Police wrote, noting that before the recent shooting in San Bernardino, a neighbor noticed suspicious activity at the home of accused gunman Syed Farook and did not report anything.

 

 

 

Was this a good or bad call? There was a report of a suspicious item reported on a New Jersey Transit bus around 8:30...

Posted by New Jersey State Police on Thursday, December 10, 2015

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