Police called to suspicious package: it was an Amazon order

A man in Hudson, Ohio called the police to report a suspicious package on his doorstep. When the officer arrived, he noticed the "AMAZON.COM" printing on the box and asked if the man had recently ordered anything from Amazon:

The man reportedly said "Why yes, I did."
The officer told the resident his order had arrived. The resident then said he was comfortable opening the box. The officer then left the scene, according to the report.

Police News: 'Suspicious' box turns out to be Amazon delivery (via Consumerist)

(Image: Amazon Cardboard Boxes, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from akiraohgaki's photostream)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: News

More at Boing Boing

Ants and Stars: Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic visit the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Italy

The Snowden Principle

SamSam

In that same police round-up at the link:

Nov. 6. Iced tea abused: An employee of a South Main Street business said someone opened a $2.19 can of iced tea then left it on the counter without paying for it at 8:25 a.m.

That poor, poor abused iced tea…
- penguinchris
  
  That’s really funny. Most likely the person was just absentminded and forgot, but you can imagine that alternative: someone goes in who has a beef with the business or the owner, and in an act of defiance takes out an iced tea, opens it, and leaves it on the counter when no one’s looking – then books it out of there. “HA!” he screams once he gets down the street a ways. “That’ll teach ‘em.”
  
  Reminds me of the Simon and Garfunkel song “A Poem on the Underground Wall”.
The Mudshark

Stay vigilant!
Anonymous

Didn’t the cop even fondle his balls before leaving? What if it had been a real bomb?
BrainFatigue

He thought it suspicious because the box had brown skin.
blueelm

alzheimer’s?
Comedian

As a volunteer EMT with my town’s ambulance squad my portable radio receives the radio traffic of our police force, with whom we share a dispatcher.

This sort of foolishness happens every day in small town living.

It really is shocking how quickly many people hit the limits of their coping skills.
- chgoliz
  
  “It really is shocking how quickly many people hit the limits of their coping skills.”
  
  Perfectly put.
Deidzoeb

But it really was a suspicious package:
http://www.amazon.com/Suspicious-Silhouette-Romantic-Suspense-Heather/dp/0373274491/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289921893&sr=8-1
benher

The TSA Loooooooves inspecting MY suspicious package!! RrrrrRRRoar!
Filth

What’s in the box? My brain, duh-haw.
platosbeard

Dang it, Ohio. I love you, I really do (I’m from and live near Hudson). We usually get a bad rap in the media, and events like this really aren’t helping our image.
Crn

:D
I’m always amazed by people who consider themselves a viable bomb target.
arikol

well…not until Antinous starts properly implementing his tactical nuclear moderation methods…

;)
Oceanesque

Hahahaahahaahahaha! :D

This is what happens when you bombard your population with “If You See Something, Say Something” advertisements warning them to be alert to unattended packages.
Anonymous

Maybe the moran finally got himself a brain?!

also: Fucking Amazon boxes….how do they work???
- Gyrofrog
  
  Who, Jason?
Hools Verne

This is funny and all, but how about we all step back and remember the last time we had an off day and thank our lucky stars it didn’t end up on Boing Boing rather than joke about dementia.
EFDisaster

I order a lot of stuff from Amazon and lately, they’ve started using some different delivery services. I admit that I was a little weirded out the first time a planclothes guy in a minivan stopped at my house, rang the doorbell, left a box, and jogged back to his minivan… I’m in the suburbs of chicago, and it usually is listed as Ensenda on the Amazon tracking.
- Joe Funk
  
  The last time I ordered from Amazon, the package was delivered by an unkempt guy in street clothes who was driving a REALLY beat up minivan. Prior to that, I missed the delivery twice, so I got two of those “missed delivery” notification flyers on my front door from a company that I had never heard of. The tracking number was different on each flyer, and neither tracking number was valid on the company’s (really shoddy-looking) website.
  
  I was going to say the same thing as EFDisaster. I didn’t think it was a bomb, but I definitely took notice.
  
  I was wondering how they managed to deliver a cast iron skillet and dutch oven for free. Now I know.
jtegnell

Is there any doubt that the terrorists have won?
- taj1f
  
  Not only have the terrorists won… but our failed education system and inability to properly identify and assist the mentally ill aren’t helping either.
  
  Has the world always been this way?
  
  “The world is perfect. It’s a mess. We are not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives.” – Joseph Campbell
Phikus

To be fair, the box was smirking at him.
Robert

@Phikus #20: Damn, in before me. I *knew* those boxes were smirking but I couldn’t convince anyone!
JoshuaTerrell

Once you start fearing the possibility of anything then you fear everything.

Also, fear is the mindkiller.
Anonymous

They should have used Whispernet (Insert Kindle joke here). Har Har Har :-P
Gilbert Wham

Argh. Can we not nip over to /b/, borrow the Low Orbit Ion Cannon and do something about this spammer?
fruityboots

This is just stealth marketing BS passed off as news…
ill lich

Also in the news, police were summoned to the bedroom of a 6-year-old boy to check under the bed for “monsters.”
mbatey

Why didn’t the cop Tazer him? Christ knows he deserved it.
uricacid

okay seriously, I had to read this twice because I thought at first it was some really clever commentary on consumerism and I was too dumb to get it.