2 Rite Aid Workers Treated After Opening Suspicious Package: TRPD

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Two Rite Aid employees were taken to the hospital on Monday after they opened a package and got some kind of powder on themselves, Toms River police said.

The package and its contents later were deemed safe following a preliminary inspection by the New Jersey State Police Hazmat Unit and the Berkeley Township Hazmat Unit, said Jillian Messina of the Toms River Police Department.

Police were called to the pharmacy at 1726 Route 37 East, near Vaughn Avenue, about 1:40 p.m. and the store was evacuated as a precaution.

The employees told police they had opened a mail package that had been delivered to the store and found a newspaper inside, and believed they were exposed to some kind of powdery substance that was either on the newspaper or inside the box, Messina said.

Two employees were taken to Community Medical Center out of an abundance of caution, she said.

Firefighters were on the scene as well, witnesses told Patch.

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