Smelly Powder Scare
Clears The Courthouse

The lawyers and judges and accused crooks filed out of the state courthouse on Elm Street mid-day Monday — and the people in HazMat suits filed in.

All over a nasty-smelling package with powder inside.

Hours later the courthouse reopened, the powder deemed harmless.

According to someone familiar with the incident, a FedEx package arrived Monday morning addressed to the court clerk from a man in Puerto Rico who has been sending ​“gibberish” letters and bizarre packages for a year now. Some contain photos or letters written partly in English, partly in Spanish, none of it seeming to make sense. Up to two a week have been arriving.

When court workers opened the latest package Monday, they found food, leaves, dirt, and mold — and the powder. The package smelled nasty.

They told the marshals. Who told the state police. Who sent the bomb squad. Police informed the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which also sent an emergency crew.

They cleared the courthouse.

“Field tests were inconclusive and the envelope along with the substance were shipped to the state lab for further testing,” said DEEP spokesman Dwayne Gardner. ​“USPS is now handling the investigation.”

Alleged Dirt Biker Nabbed: Police Sunday afternoon caught one of those alleged dirt bikers causing all that havoc on New Haven’s streets.

Here’s what happened, according to Lt. Jeff Hoffman.

Officers Louis DeCrescenzo and Ryan Macuirzynski saw someone riding a dirt bike around Chatham and Rowe streets. The rider stopped and abandoned the 2006 Kawasaki after it ​“malfunctioned.” The rider ran; the cops had the Kawasaki towed to Megill’s garage on Whalley Avenue.

An hour later someone reported a robbery at Megill’s — of the Kawasaki.

At 5:46 p.m. Officers responded to the robbery report; the thief ​“allegedly motioned that he had a handgun in his waistband, and threatened to shoot” an employee. The cops caught up with and arrested the man, who’s 28 and lives in the Heights. A witness ID’d the robber; the cops found the bike ​“at a relative’s house” and had it towed back again — to Megill’s.