Investigation of suspicious truck forced evacuations in downtown West Palm Beach

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - There was a major security scare in West Palm Beach Monday morning.

Homeland security, along with West Palm Beach Police, closed downtown city blocks and evacuated several hundred people.

In the end, police said the area was in the clear, but it disrupted many people's Monday morning routine.

It started with a suspicious white rental-type truck.

Isaac Morton, the passenger in a car, said, "I was wondering what the cop cars are for."

The investigation forced Nancy Stone's bus driver to take an alternate route.

She said, "I was a little concerned when we got re-routed. I didn't know what was going on."

A few other things raised red flags for West Palm Beach police.

"We had a K-9 who alerted to the vehicle, indicating the possibility of explosives in the vehicle. Out of an abundance of caution, we evacuated the area," said Chase Scott, a spokesman for West Palm Beach police.

Scott said the person the vehicle was registered to paid a monthly fee to park in the lot adjacent to the federal courthouse. Whether the owner knew it or not, Scott says it's a violation of federal law to park a commercial vehicle overnight there. The timing couldn't have been worse. It happened just one day after the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and several days after federal authorities warned of a terror threat in NYC or Washington, DC involving a truck bomb.

Despite the delay in her commute, Stone said, "Well, they did the right thing. There's some crazy people out these days."

Two hours after evacuating and inspecting the truck, the area was ruled safe. There were no explosives found, but investigators did find something else on the truck.

Scott explained, "It had anti-law enforcement graffiti on the side."

Police say the truck's owner was a man convicted of attempted sexual battery of a minor who was angry with police about his case.