‘Suspicious Item’ Temporarily Closed Sleeping Giant In Hamden

HAMDEN, CT — The suspicious item that temporarily closed Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden on Saturday was determined to be used with geocaching, according to officials.

The Connecticut State Police Bomb Squad responded to Sleeping Giant around 5 p.m. on Oct. 3 on the report of a suspected pipe bomb that was found by a hiker part way down a cliff.

The item, which was removed by the bomb squad with assistance from the Hamden Fire Department, was described as plastic tubing, containing a notepad, and resembled a pipe bomb, according to Hamden police Capt. Ronald Smith.

A member of the bomb squad rappelled around 40 feet before finding the item, according to state police.

“The item was brought to a safe location and as part of their investigation was determined to be non-explosive,” officials wrote in a post on Facebook. “The item had materials consistent with geocaching. Great work by Hamden PD, DEEP, and Hamden Fire.”

Crews from the Hamden Fire Department were back at Sleeping Giant on Sunday afternoon to rescue a hiker who had a medical emergency at the top of the blue trail. No further information was immediately available regarding that incident.