Lexus owner’s homemade ‘door protectors’ triggers bomb scare in the US

A US man has discovered why it’s important to make sure any do-it-yourself car modifications don’t resemble explosives.

A Lexus owner in the US has been released without charge by Tennessee police officers after causing a two-hour-long bomb scare – due to his car’s homemade ‘dent protectors’ which onlookers believed were explosive devices.

In a post uploaded to social media platform Facebook, the Murfreesboro Police Department detailed the ordeal which led to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies descending on an unsuspecting owner’s Lexus IS.

On Tuesday 24 October, police received calls of a car with suspicious-looking round pipes, wires and duct-tape mounted to its passenger side doors.

Fearing the devices were a pair of homemade bombs, the nearby shopping centre was evacuated while a school was placed into lock-down as Murfreesboro Police Department, Tennessee Highway Patrol, and members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency investigated the scene.

According to police, the contact details for the car’s owner were obtained and he was contacted – only for police to find he was among the shoppers who had been evacuated, unaware his Lexus was believed to be carrying explosives.

After telling the police the devices were nothing more than door protectors which he had made to stop the car being scratched and scraped in car parks, the Tennessee Highway Patrol Special Operations Unit further examined the car and gave the all-clear.

Because the owner did not intend to cause any harm, he was released without charge by the police – though he may want to consider buying a purpose-made door protector to prevent the situation from occurring again.

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