Hotel near UGA campus evacuated after modified fireworks found in room

An Athens hotel was evacuated Tuesday after employees discovered a duffel bag containing modified fireworks had been left in a room, police said.

Police were called to the InTown Suites along South Milledge Avenue about 2 p.m. after the extended stay’s housekeeping crew found fuses inside a bag left by a guest,  according to Geoffrey Gilland, spokesman for Athens-Clarke County police.

The employee believed it may have been an explosive device and the University of Georgia Police Department’s bomb disposal unit was called in to remove the bag.

“What we determined after investigation was that these were commercially available fireworks — the mortar type — and they had been removed from their original packaging and left in the duffel bag,” Gilland said.

Investigators contacted the man who had checked out of the room earlier in the day and he confirmed the bag was his, police said.

According to Gilland, it is not illegal to modify commercially available fireworks, but investigators are still determining whether to file charges in the case.

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