Sisters ‘bottle-flippers’ prompt OSP bomb squad call-out
A suspicious item was discovered at a Sisters city park Friday morning, prompting clearing of the park and blocked off streets for 2 ½ hours, until an OSP bomb squad unit arrived from Salem. It turned out to be a duct-taped Gatorade bottle three 12-year-old boys had used in a popular “bottle flip” game, authorities said later.
A Sisters city employee had noted the small black object on the ground at the Fir Street Park around 8:45 a.m. and called 911 dispatchers, said Deschutes County sheriff’s Lt. Mike Biondi.
Sheriff’s deputies cordoned off the area, assisted by Black Butte Ranch police officers and Sisters Public Works employees, Biondi said.
Yellow caution tape was strung around Fir Street Park, a city park that Sisters opened in 2014,, and Fir Street was barricaded as a precaution.
The object had been described as a small black bag or package, with undetermined contents.
After consulting with the Oregon State Police Bomb Squad, detectives with that unit headed to the scene from Salem, arriving shortly after 11:30 a.m.
One bomb squad member suited up in protective gear to examine the item, found near the park’s bike racks. It was found to be a sports drink bottle, with a small amount of liquid inside, Biondi said.
Deputies investigating the incident learned the bottle had been left behind by three 12-year-old boys who were playing “bottle flip,” a game in which a partially filled bottle is flipped in the air, in an attempt to get it to land upright.
After playing the game for a time, the bottle began to break down, so the boys wrapped it entirely in black duct tape to hold it together. AFter the game, they left the bottle in the park.
The nearby streets were blocked for 2 ½ hours but cleared around noon
Despite the false alarm, Biondi said the sheriff’s office “encourages the public to report any suspicious item or package that seems out of place to law enforcement immediately.”
It’s not the first such incident in Sisters this year. Back on June 9, a block of downtown Sisters was cordoned off and the OSP Bomb Squad was called in to check out a suspicious black container, the size of an ice cooler, found on the sidewalk by the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Department on Elm Street.
It was found to be a portable wood router and accessories.
NewsChannel 21’s Jessie Foster (@JessieKTVZ on Twitter) was on scene and will have her report for NewsChannel 21 on Fox @ 4 and KTVZ at Five, Six and Seven.
