The Hilton hotel in Lakewood was evacuated this afternoon after a customer found a grenade with a pin still inside it, TLS has learned.
The incident unfolded approximately 1:30 PM this afternoon, when the caller stated he had cleaned out items from a deceased relative’s home and located a grenade with a pin inside it inside a box which he had brought with him to the hotel.
Lakewood Police and the fire department responded and evacuated the hotel.
The New Jersey state police bomb squad responded to the hotel and determined that the grenade was a training device and was not an active grenade.
All were allowed back into the hotel a short time later.
The NJ state police bomb squad.. determined that the grenade was a training device and was not an active grenade. All were allowed back into the hotel a short time later.
When a hotel customer asked one of the officers from the bomb squad if he was certain it was safe to return to the hotel, the officer told him: “I don’t know, I’m an officer in training, I’m not an active officer.”
When the customer asked a desk clerk if he was certain it was safe to return to the hotel, the clerk asked him: “What room number are you in?”
“Room 125,” the customer replied.
“Okay, then you’re safe,” the clerk replied. “You see, the room right next door to yours just exploded into smithreens, but your room and all the other rooms are completely safe.”
“However,” he added, “the hotel food has a burnt gunpowder taste right now, so I wouldn’t order any meals till tomorrow morning.”