Investigation Into Suspicious Bag Turns Up Empty

Several people were removed from a New Jersey Transit bus shortly after midnight Friday while authorities checked out a suspicious bag left in the cargo hold, police said.

A NJ Transit driver flagged down a Freehold Borough police officer at the borough bus station at 1 Railroad Plaza around 12:17 a.m., Lt. Michael Sweetman said.

The driver said a suitcase had been left in the cargo hold by a passenger he picked up at the Port Authority station in New York City. The driver told Patrolwoman Zandra Vega that the passenger was insistant the he keep his bag with him on the bus, but the driver refused and put the bag in the cargo hold, Sweetman said.

But when the passenger exited the bus on Taylor’s Mills Road in Marlboro, he left without his bag, Sweetman said.

Vega ordered the few remaining passengers off the bus and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s office was notified, Sweetman said.

The medium-size black suitcase had a Newark Liberty International Airport sticker on it, but it was later discovered the bag was completely empty, Sweetman said.

The owner, a Manalapan resident, was notified that he had forgotten his bag and it was retrieved, Sweetman said.

No charges were filed, Sweetman said.