Prosecutors Employee Had Medical Episode While Opening Mail – New Brunswick, NJ Patch
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Update from the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office, Friday 5:19 p.m.: It was determined that the employee had an unrelated medical episode and there was no threat to the County building and/or the employees working therein.
A suspicious envelope was mailed to the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office Thursday, and a county worker who opened it in the mail room passed out and lost consciousness after opening it.
This is according to the office of New Brunswick Mayor James Cahill, which put out a news release about the incident.
The incident caused New Brunswick’s Civic Square, which houses the New Brunswick Police Department and several city and Middlesex County offices, to be briefly evacuated Thursday afternoon.
The envelope was delivered Thursday to the Prosecutor’s office mailroom on the third floor. It was handled by a county worker who lost consciousness shortly after opening it just past 2 p.m.
The envelope appeared to be empty.
Since it was sent to the county prosecutor through the U.S. Postal Service, the FBI is working to determine exactly what — if anything — was inside. Their investigation is currently ongoing.
Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone was just sworn into the county’s top law enforcement job earlier this year.
As a precautionary measure, the entire building was safely evacuated and the HVAC system was turned off to eliminate the spread of any potential airborne agents. The Middlesex County Hazardous Materials Unit declared the building safe to enter at approximately 3:30 p.m. and workers were allowed to return to their offices.
Kirkpatrick Street, which had been closed between Bayard and New streets as a safety precaution, was also reopened to traffic.