San Diego
An anonymous phone call led San Diego police Tuesday to a box containing radioactive material that had been stolen over the weekend.
The box was found in an alley in the 4600 block of Kensington Drive about 11:20 p.m., just three blocks from where it was reported stolen.
San Diego Police Department spokesman Bill Robinson said the hazardous materials unit examined the box and determined it had not been opened.
Exposure to the material for more than two hours would have proved harmful, police said.
“We were concerned that someone would open the box and be exposed. We’re just thankful that it was returned,” Robinson said.
The 2-by-3-foot box was stolen Friday night or Saturday morning from a pickup truck parked in the 4400 block of Marlborough Avenue. It was returned to its owner.
The box contained a gauge used to measure soil compaction and content. The gauge uses low-level radioactive material during the procedure, said Frank O. Bold, senior health physicist for the county Health Services Department. Bold verified that the box was intact.
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