Update: Hand grenade detonated

A Sarasota resident who found a hand grenade near his mailbox picked it up and drove it in his Jeep Cherokee Thursday to the Sarasota Police Department around 2 p.m. Thursday.

The incident sparked a series of events Thursday afternoon that led to street closures, the evacuation of the police department and helicopter flyovers. The bomb squad unit was called in to detonate the grenade in the ground across the street with the help of a robot.

The robot took what appeared to be a grenade across the street to Payne Park, where it was buried and detonated.

No one was injured and police said the person who found the grenade will not face criminal charges.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].