Published: May 17, 2007 08:28 am      

Bomb squad responds in Pryor

An explosive devise was detonated behind the building at Steddum’s Payless Car Sales Wednesday.

The device was detonated by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad according to Pryor Police Chief Dennis Nichols.

Nichols said the police department received a call at approximately 11:30 a.m., from a Payless Car Sales employee concerned about a suspicious item in one of the vehicles.

Employees showed officers the device, which was discovered in the glove box of a vehicle. Officers evaluated the situation and determined the object was explosive. Officers secured the area, cleared everyone out and called the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad.

When OHP Bomb Squad officers arrived, they retrieved the device behind and detonated it.

Payless Car Sales Owner, Rodney Steddum, said a car had been stolen from their lot but he wasn’t sure when.

Nichols said the car may have been stolen or abandoned after a test drive.

Steddum said the car was recovered in the parking lot of Drug Warehouse in Pryor, which is located southeast of the Payless lot.

According to Steddum, once the car was back on the lot, employees of Payless went through the car, which is when the suspicious item was discovered.

“I’m just glad nobody got hurt,” Steddum said.

The Pryor Police Department is investigating where the device may have come from, how it got in the vehicle and who was involved.