Bomb Robot Defuses Offering to a God

According to Gainsville Florida Sun at gainsville.com, a bomb disposal robot was used to defuse an offering to the god Ogun.

Alachua County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Steve Maynard said deputies with the Bomb Disposal Team operated a robot that wheeled over toward the bundles and was able to pick them up. As it did, corn, peppers, beans and pennies tumbled out from the cloth, officials said.

Officers picked through the items afterward and also found two pocketknives, toy cars and a toy soldier, crackers and a food-stained, handwritten note. Headed with the words "To OGG," it read like a wish list and asked that "Steve to get over wife, Sassy to get over Jamie, Marcia to find new love, Sheldon to get over fears."

The robot was not called out for religious reasons although it is believed that any curse will fall upon the robot and not on a county employee.

"Our concern is certainly the litter but also the fact that people are trespassing on our railroad and creating a potential hazard to themselves," said CSX spokesman Gary Sease. "We stress over and over again that railroad tracks are not the place for people to be."

Leaving bundles like those found in northwestern Alachua County violates state law prohibiting interference with a railroad track, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Offering to a god on railroad draws bomb squad | Gainesville.com | The Gainesville Sun | Gainesville, Fla.