'Sweet Treat Gone Wrong' Prompts Hazmat in Santa Rosa, CA

A mysterious brown powder spilling Thursday from one of two packages sent to officials at a Santa Rosa bank prompted concerns that the contents might be hazardous, authorities said.

But after some testing and a bit of tension as the item was opened, authorities found the “threat was actually a sweet treat gone wrong,” Santa Rosa police Sgt. Patricia Seffens said.

Bank employees called the police just after 2 p.m. after sealing the mysterious packages in a clear plastic bag.

A responding police officer picked up the bag and brought it back to the police department on Sonoma Avenue, where a sergeant called the Santa Rosa Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Response Team.

Once on site, hazmat members examined the bag outside in the back parking lot of the police department.

Seffens said there is protocol that is usually followed when dealing with hazardous materials but this situation did not “fit neatly into standard hazmat situations.”

Other people, she said, had already been exposed to the substance and did not suffer any health issues and it was in a sealed bag.

SRFD Division Chief Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal said the powder was tested as the package was being opened.

Ultimately, he said, the substance was determined to be “powered chocolate.”

Once opened officials found a damaged packet of hot cocoa mix attached to “a sweet letter of gratitude,” celebrating the holiday season, Seffens said.

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