Herndon, Virginia, police announced Friday night that residents of the evacuated homes in the Herndon Station Square neighborhood would be allowed to return to their homes after finding the “alarming” chemical substances found in the home of a wanted man were, in fact, legal to possess.
Around 11:30 a.m. Friday, police were called to the home to execute a search warrant on behalf of a Pennsylvania county police department in the home of a man, who they said was was wanted on multiple counts of criminal mischief, stalking and harassment by the Central Bucks Regional Police Department.
In collaboration with the Fairfax County Police Department bomb squad and ATF Washington, police evacuated at least 20 nearby homes after they discovered “chemical substances and other evidence that raised alarm,” Herndon police said in a post on X.
“While officers from the Herndon Police Department and investigators were searching the house, they found some chemicals and other substances that caused them some alarm,” said Herndon police Capt. Steve Pihonak during a news conference Friday evening.
Pihonak later recanted this statement, saying that “they’ve determined none of those chemicals are illegal to posses.” He added that multiple firearms were taken from the home.
“It wasn’t like in the typical homeowner’s garage where they would have … paint over here and this and that. It was definitely suspicious in nature, to how he had these in the home,” he said.
The W&OD Trail was closed between Grace and Center streets. Grace Street was closed between Haley Place and Park Avenue. The Herndon Fortnightly Library and Boulevard, as well as the Herndon Harbor Adult Day Health Care Center, were also closed.
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