COUNTY WOMAN MISTAKES BONG FOR BOMB

Found Drug Paraphernalia In Mailbox

CANTRALL - The secretary of state's bomb squad was called Tuesday morning
to a rural Sangamon County residence to investigate a possible pipe bomb in
a mailbox. But it wasn't a pipe bomb.

It was a pipe bong. "It was the type of pipe you smoke marijuana with,"
said sheriff's Lt. Jeff Berkler. A homeowner in the 900 block of East
Barber Road, about two miles east of Cantrall, pulled out of her driveway
and noticed the red flag on the side of the mailbox was up. Knowing she
didn't leave it up, she peeked inside. Alarmed at what she saw, she called
the local post office. Sheriff's deputies were summoned, and the sheriff's
office called the bomb squad after finding a second raised red flag on a
mailbox at a residence in the 1000 block of East Barber.

The initial call came in about 9:45 a.m., and officials were on the scene
for about two hours before they discovered there was no real threat. "The
common practice is to tie a long string or rope to the mailbox and open it
from a great distance. In that situation, you get a good view on the box.
Some of the bombs can be photoelectric-sensitive," said Tony Sacco, chief
deputy for the sheriff's office.

A series of rural mailbox pipe bombings, including in Illinois, last month
has heightened sensitivity to mailbox tampering. Though the alleged bomber
has been arrested, authorities have cautioned people to report anything
suspicious.

There was no indication why someone would have left the multicolored bong -
a tube-like instrument with liquid in the bottom used for smoking drugs -
in the mailbox.

"Nothing was found in the (second) mailbox," Sacco said.