LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – We are learning new details about a trailer parked in downtown Lexington that led to evacuations due to a bomb threat.
It was a false alarm, but it caused a major disturbance in the city center on New Year’s Eve.
We were told that the trailer was rented by an Ohio family staying at one of the downtown hotels. It didn’t fit in the garage, so they parked in a downtown parking lot.
This sparked suspicion on a busy night in the city center, bringing a police K-9 that warned about it. A police robot was then taken to look for explosives.
Fortunately, nothing was found, but it still caused a major disruption. Restaurants, bars and hotels were all evacuated on what was a busy night in the city center.
Heather Cardwell was spending the night in a downtown area. She says they were ready to leave when the hotel was evacuated.
It is not something she expected, but they were still able to save their plans and go elsewhere for dinner. Still, she realizes that for many entrepreneurs, what happened on Thursday night was the last thing they wanted.
“I’m really sorry for the local restaurants that had in mind that this would be a better night for them to start the new year,” said Cardwell. “I think it was spoiled by the incident.”
“They couldn’t have written a script. It was a very interesting night, ”said Debbie Long, owner of Dudley’s on Short.
When they finished, many people had already gone home.
At Dudley’s on Short, the workers put the food back on the table, the candles still lit and the restaurant empty. Terrible moment, the owner Debbie Long says that it hurts, not only her, but her team.
“It would have been more pleasant at three o’clock yesterday afternoon, or today – where there are no businesses open,” said Long. “But eight o’clock on New Year’s Eve. If you could have chosen the probably worst time, this would be it. But we cannot choose those moments. “
We contacted the Lexington Police Department to find out more about what exactly caused that K-9 to alert the RV. They released this statement:
We have not identified the cause of the alert. Canines will occasionally encounter a combination of odors or residual odor from the previous load. The trailer has been rented, so there’s no way of knowing what it had in it before. This does not necessarily mean that previous occupants had explosives. It may have been fireworks, fertilizer or some other similar legal product.
In a statement, Mayor Linda Gorton thanked the police for being diligent in protecting the public.
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