ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A Pinellas County deputy is out of a job after his practical joke turned out to be completely impractical, officials said.
According to the sheriff's office, a lieutenant at the sheriff's administration building received a package through interoffice mail Tuesday afternoon. When he opened it, he found a red cylindrical object with protruding wires.
There was a note inside the package that said, "Boom."
The lieutenant cleared the office and notified superiors. Parts of the building were evacuated, and a bomb-sniffing K-9 was sent in. The dog did not react to the package.
Members of the Tampa Police Bomb Squad were called in and determined the package was not a threat.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri sent a message about the incident to all employees. After seeing the message, Deputy James Piper, 59, told his superior he had sent the package as a joke.
Piper resigned, effective immediately.
He had been with the sheriff's office from 1982 to 2015 and was rehired in 2017.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10 News app now.
Have a news tip? Email tips@wtsp.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
