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Sebring woman arrested for suspicious powder incident

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Members of the City of Sebring Fire Rescue Special Operations Office, wearing level A hazmat suits, get ready to go into the Highlands County Sheriff's Office after receiving two suspicious-looking envelopes shortly after 2 p.m on Tuesday in Sebring.

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By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: July 21, 2009

Updated: 07/22/2009 06:22 pm

SEBRING -
A Sebring woman was arrested Wednesday afternoon for allegedly sending two suspicious envelopes in the mail to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

Cally-Jo Richardson, 31, was taken into custody around 4 p.m., according to Lisa Burley, the sheriff's chief of staff. No other information about her arrest was available at this time.

The city of Sebring was again disrupted by the arrival of suspicious envelopes, and the target this time was the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

Just after 2 p.m. Tuesday, two envelopes containing a suspicious white powder arrived at the sheriff's office in the mail, according to Lisa Burley, the sheriff's chief of staff.

Approximately 40 employees were evacuated from the first and second floors a few minutes later as one letter was delivered to each level. Once outside, department heads were busy checking to make sure all their staff members were out of the building.

Emergency responders quickly arrived on the scene and began taping the area off. The intersection of Eucalyptus and Commerce avenues was closed to traffic as investigators put on hazmat suits and prepared to go inside and remove the envelopes.

By 4:20 p.m., the powder was en route to Tampa for testing, according to Burley. Results were expected by 10 p.m. Tuesday, past Highlands Today's press time.

The threat did not disrupt 911 dispatchers or Highlands County Jail officials and operations continued as usual.

"The dispatchers are in a self-contained area of the sheriff's office and so is the jail," Burley said. "Patrol continues as normal."

All other employees were sent home for the afternoon and there were no similar incidents reported in the county, according to Burley.

The scene outside of the sheriff's office Tuesday afternoon brought to mind the April 2 anthrax scare at Florida Hospital Heartland Division.

Approximately 76 envelopes filled with a white powder were placed on the windshields of cars parked in the hospital parking lot and in nearby residential mailboxes.

Local, state and federal agencies investigated the case while the hospital was locked down for more than 12 hours. The substance eventually tested negative for the presence of anthrax.

The two suspects charged in that case, Jerron Marion Moffitt and Cele Pete Carmona, remained locked up in the Highlands County Jail at the time of this latest Sebring scare.

UPDATE: A mysterious substance found inside two envelopes mailed to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office Tuesday tested negative for anthrax or any other biochemical.

Gloria Rybinski, public information officer for the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners, did not have any more specifics Tuesday night about who might have sent the envelopes or if they were addressed to anyone specifically.

She was notified of the preliminary test results around 10:10 p.m.

The sheriff's office was evacuated shortly after 2 p.m. after the envelopes arrived. No other information was available at this time.

Highlands Today reporter Brad Dickerson can be reached at 863-386-5838 or bdickerson@highlandstoday.com.

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