A parking lot adjacent to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and Valencia Library was on lockdown Thursday morning after a man brought a suspicious device to the station in an effort to report it, officials said.

The man reportedly traveled from the Riverside area with the unidentified item, and left it in the back of his truck parked in the lot at Magic Mountain Parkway and Valencia Boulevard when he arrived just before 9:30 a.m., said Deputy Chris Craft.

The scene of the incident. Photo by Gilbert Bernal, KHTS.

“The person that brought it in said he traveled with it a long distance,” Craft said. “We locked down our parking lot and we secured the area where the device was at to make sure that no citizens or civilians were around the area that could be hurt.”

A KHTS reporter at the scene described the vehicle as a green Chevy dually truck with what appeared to be some sort of air tanks in the back; however, Craft clarified that the tanks were not part of the suspicious device.

“It was a small device, and the tanks were not associated,” he said. “Our Arson and Explosives unit, they determined that those were not part of the device.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Arson and Explosives Unit arrived at the scene at approximately 10:30 a.m. and cleared the scene by 11 a.m. 

The Arson and Explosives Unit at the scene. Photo by Gilbert Bernal, KHTS.

“They took a look at the device, recovered it and rendered it safe,” Craft said. “They’re going to take it back and dismantle it at their facility.”

Several offices at the Sheriff’s Station were evacuated during the incident, and the station was back in full operation by 11:20 a.m., according to Craft.

Craft advised residents who may come across a suspicious item or package not to touch it or attempt to transport it.

“Call 9-1-1 and we’ll come out to you,” he said. “Bringing it to a police station and to the library is dangerous and we do not recommend touching it. Let our experts take handle of it and render it safe.”