‘Bomb’ inquiry continues

SOUTHWEST HARBOR — More than three weeks after a bomb scare closed down an area near the Lower Town Dock and nearby streets, investigators have yet to find the suspect who placed the device.

Acting police chief Mike Miller said Wednesday that surveillance video of the dock shows a dark-colored full-size pickup truck leaving the scene. Investigators, however, have been unable to identify the vehicle or driver, he said.

The state fire marshal’s office also is involved in the case. Sergeant Tim York declined comment, saying only that it remains an ongoing investigation. He would not confirm whether the “bomb” was real or a hoax.

Public works employees discovered the device – described as a small propane cylinder with wires coming out of it and running into a one-gallon bucket that had been duct-taped to the cylinder – during the morning of Oct. 22. The workers alerted Southwest Harbor police, who then called in the Maine State Police bomb squad, the fire marshal’s office and the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency.

The Clark Point Road was closed to traffic from Dirigo Road to the U.S. Coast Guard base for several hours as the bomb squad examined and then detonated the device using an explosive charge. Reports at the time were that the device was determined to be a fake because there was no secondary explosion.