Letter mailed to Daytona Bch. judge deemed safe

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A hazardous materials unit was called to the James Foxman Justice Center Monday after reports that a judge received a package or envelope with a powdery substance inside.

Channel 9's Blaine Tolison learned two deputies came in contact with the package and were isolated while its contents were determined.

Officials later said the package was not dangerous, and the binding of the letter folding was thought to have been a powdery substance. It was not.

  They said firefighters had to take all the precautions because the envelope was mailed to the courthouse and did not contain a return address, which made it a credible threat.

“We just came up here for a court hearing and everything's stalled and they got guys out here in suits, testing stuff in the parking lot and nobody is really saying anything,” said witness Raven Atkins.

Deputies said a judicial assistant came across the letter, which was sealed with tape. The deputies felt the letter and believed it could have contained a powdery substance.

“That was the information that we received via dispatch and via the investigation,” said Lt. Larry Stoney of the Daytona Beach Fire Department. “What they were feeling was the binding of the letter folding."

The hazmat team, wearing full-face masks and air tanks, obtained a sample from inside the letter and ran it through a series of tests. The process took more than two hours.

“You don't think it's going to happen in your neighborhood, but it just proves that people do what they want where ever,” said Atkins.

Officials said they will not release what exactly the letter said and they said they will not investigate who the letter came from because it was not threatening in nature.

WFTV