An item that turned out to be harmless was destroyed after the Salt Lake Police Department was tipped to a bomb threat Monday night.

Around 6 p.m., an ARUP Blood Services security worker noticed that a suspicious looking package had been left in a parking lot in the U’s Research Park.

He called the police, who promptly sent a bomb squad to survey the item located at 546 S. Chipeta Way, SLPD Detective Joe Cyr said.

The bomb squad sent in a robot to examine the item, which had a battery and cables attached to it.

“Because the package had no labels or contact information on it, it was regarded as ‘highly suspicious,'” Cyr said.

The robot, which resembles a miniature dune buggy, destroyed the item “rather quickly,” Cyr said.

ARUP night workers, who were told by police to stay inside, were allowed to go outside the building after it was discovered that the package did not contain any explosives.

On Tuesday morning, a man called the police station and said he owned the package, which was a Global Positioning Device.

The man said he left it in the parking lot overnight because it was being used as a surveying machine for a local engineering company, said David Jackson, ARUP senior vice president of strategic services and facilities.

No one was injured during the incident.

If a suspicious item is spotted in the future, Cyr encourages the public to call the Salt Lake City Dispatch at 799-3000 or campus police at 585-2677

The price of the destroyed GPS is unknown.

Ana Breton