Suspicious package at Kane judicial center harmless

A suspicious package discovered early Wednesday at the Kane County Judicial Center turned out to be harmless, according to the sheriff's department.

Sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler said the package was found just after 8 a.m. in the west parking lot of the judicial center, located at 37W777 Route 38, St. Charles. The courthouse remained open but the west parking lot was closed for about 90 minutes.

The Kane County Bomb Squad was able to safely open the package, which contained a workout DVD, video game and a calculator. The parking lot was reopened at approximately 9:45 a.m.

Greg Benson, chief of the Fox River and Countryside Fire/Rescue District said firefighters were at the scene from about 9 to 10 a.m. on standby while the sheriff's department and bomb squad investigated.

Benson said the incident did not cause too much disruption.

“They just cordoned off a section of the parking lot,” Benson said. “There was no chaos.”

Gengler said at approximately 8:10 a.m. a Kane County Sheriff's court security officer was informed of a suspicious package located in the parking lot of the judicial center. The small gray box was located on a landscape berm on the northwest side of the complex. Officers, who confirmed the box was not there Tuesday, were not able to look inside and see the contents.

Due to the location of the box and the inability to initially verify its contents, the parking lot was closed.

The Geneva and St. Charles police departments assisted sheriff's deputies with traffic control.

Ÿ Daily Herald staff writer Harry Hitzeman contributed to this story.