An abandoned package labeled with the numbers “666” in red ink was found by commuters on a bus in Hoboken this past Wednesday at 2:20 p.m.
Since those numbers are associated in folklore with the Devil, the Hoboken Fire Department (HFD) was notified and immediately evacuated the bus and sectioned off the surrounding streets as a precaution. Local authorities awaited the arrival of a bomb technician from the Jersey City Police Department.
The commotion redirected traffic away from Washington Street for close to an hour. But in the end, the box contained nothing more than an unusual Halloween costume.
Could it be…Satan?
According to New Jersey Transit Bus Driver Sam Hinton, shortly after entering Hoboken, one of the passengers alerted him of the package and its alarming label of “666.” Riders became concerned over what the content of the box could be.
As soon as the bus stopped, a large number of people suddenly got off the bus.
Hinton said he believed fears about the mysterious package led to the massive exodus. He explained, “First stop, 10, 11 people get off the bus. That never happens!”
One of those who stayed on the bus was Thomas Alcandara, who, like most of the passengers, had boarded the bus at the Port Authority Terminal in New York City.
“People didn’t know what was going on,” Alcandara said. “One guy yelled, ‘It’s a box from hell!’ ” Alcandara added that the box was left in the center of bus near the rear exit.
He said he did not recall seeing who brought it on the bus.
When the bus stopped across from the Firehouse at 1313 Washington St., passengers flagged down a couple of firefighters who were standing outside.
Upon learning of the package, the firefighters quickly evacuated the bus and proceeded to block off all traffic, both pedestrian and motor vehicle, from the block.
Looking inside
Hoboken does not have a bomb squad of its own, so officials had to wait for a technician to arrive from Jersey City’s Police Department. After conducting an x-ray of the box with a handheld device, the technician concluded there were no metallic or mechanical parts inside the box.
“The x-ray showed that it was clearly clothing of some sort, no metal or anything that could be used as an explosive,” said Police Officer and Bomb Technician Teddy Goral.
According to the Jersey City officer, the “666” box label which had initially caused so many passengers to panic was only a few inches large and resembled a marking commonly used by clerks in the mail room to label a package for sorting purposes.
Perhaps the most bizarre part of the whole incident was the actual contents of the package.
It was a costume of an inflatable woman holding a bib, Goral said. The wearer would place his or her head in the bib to appear to be a massive baby walking with its mother.
Lost and found
Surprisingly, no one has yet claimed the costume.
It is being held at Police Headquarters at 106 Hudson St., where it was been entered into property and evidence, according to Sgt. Samuel Williams.
The item will remain with police for six months until it is either discarded (if it is determined to have little or no value) or entered into a public auction at the Hoboken Municipal Courthouse, said Lt. Edward Schell. The proceeds from auction go toward the city’s general fund budgetary line item.
To claim this or any other item that has been lost in the last six months in an incident involving the Hoboken police, contact the Bureau of Identification at (201) 420-2117.
Michael Mullins can be reached at mmullins@hudsonreporter.com.