WPTV Wireless

Gift may have caused evacuation

JENSEN BEACH - A package that apparently contained moonshine and led to the Thursday evacuation of a U.S. Post Office may have been sent to a local man by his son and daughter-in-law as a birthday present, according to statements in a Martin County Sheriff's incident report released Friday.

Martin County Fire Rescue crews were called at 10:28 a.m. Thursday to the post office in the 2300 block of Northeast Savannah Road, and it was evacuated at 10:41 a.m., a fire rescue spokesman has said. About 12:15 p.m., the post office reopened. Crews initially had been dispatched to an "unknown substance leaking from two cardboard boxes."

A sheriff's spokeswoman has said sheriff's officials examined the package, which contained a broken, pint size jar labeled "moonshine," a mug, two CDs and a pamphlet from Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine. A website for a business with that name indicates its product is available in Florida through Southern Wine & Spirits.

According to a sheriff's report released Friday, an "officer in charge of the post office" told a deputy the last name and phone number of the person to whom the package was to be delivered. A deputy called, and a man eventually found out that his son and daughter-in-law from Washington, DC, sent the package for his birthday. The report identifies the man as a 57-year-old Jensen Beach resident. His listed birthday is Jan. 17.

"The package supposedly contained moonshine that had apparently broken during delivery," the report states.

Two people were taken to a hospital in stable condition for evaluation

The sheriff's bomb squad was called to the scene as a precaution, a sheriff's spokeswoman has said. She said deputies assisted fire rescue officials with evacuating the post office and helping to keep people from entering the area.