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The pressure cooker found in a shopping cart outside Rock Farmers Market was empty -- except for a receipt, Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton said.
Apparently, someone mistakenly left it behind.
Prospect Street was reopened after temporarily being closed in both directions between Saddle River Road and Woodvale Road after a member of the sheriff's Bomb Squad determined the pot was safe.
Responders said they were concerned because of the proximity to a nearby kosher deli.
"In the 21st century a pressure cooker left unattended in any public place, even if due to carelessness, will no doubt cause public alarm," Glen Rock Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. "We would like to thank the concerned citizen who notified us of its presence."
The call came in shortly before 10 a.m., the chief said.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the shopping mall, as well as an adjacent shopping mall, were evacuated, and Prospect Street at the Fair Lawn border was shut down to vehicular traffic," he said.
A plastic bag that a merchant found hanging off a back door also was investigated, Ackermann said. It contained a brick, he said.
The evacuation order was lifted at 11:17 a.m. and business resumed at the shopping center, he said.
"At this juncture there is no evidence to support any criminal intent or a direct threat to the Rock Farmers Market nor any other store in the complex," the chief said Tuesday.
Also responding were the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, a Bergen County Regional SWAT team, Fair Lawn police and the Glen Rock Office of Emergency Management. Firefighters and EMS were put on standby.
Boyd A. Loving took the photos and contributed to this article.
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