Suspiciously packaged poster prompted City Hall alert

A poster sent to a staffer in a suspicious-looking package, with an even more suspicious return address, prompted the evacuation of City Hall on Tuesday, according to a police report of the incident that interrupted a Sarasota City Commission meeting.

Police heard from Parking Manager Mark Lyons around 2 p.m. Tuesday. He told officers he had received an envelope in the mail containing a length of white, unmarked PVC pipe that had both ends capped and made a sound with movement, raising initial suspicions.

The return address appeared to be that of a shooting range in California, which heightened concerns.

With a large number of people in the City Commission chambers, officers with the Sarasota Police Explosive Materials Unit recommended evacuation of the building, along with the temporary closure of adjacent segments of First Street and Second Street.

A remote-controlled robot entered the building and assisted investigators in determining that the pipe contained a rolled-up poster addressed to Lyons, along with small self-adhesive tabs to hang the poster from a wall.

Lyons told police, according to the report, that he recognized the poster as a version of one already in his office.

Police reopened the streets and allowed staffers and the public to reenter City Hall around 4 p.m. The City Commission meeting resumed and continued into the evening.

Police said it was unknown why the poster was mailed in such a suspicious container rather than a more-conventional cardboard tube.