For about an hour today, a key stretch of downtown Redwood City briefly felt like the set of a crime drama, as a reported suspicious device in the county parking structure near the Hall of Justice shut down traffic and sent law enforcement rushing in. By late morning, officials said there was no credible threat and reopened the area.
The scare started around 10:30 AM, when a call about a suspicious device led officers to seal off the entrance to the County Garage at Middlefield Road and Veterans Boulevard, just north of the Superior Court, according to CBS News Bay Area. San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies joined Redwood City Police Department officers to investigate a vehicle inside the multi-story structure, and nearby streets were cleared as a precaution. Officials told people to stay away from the area while the sweep was underway.
The response centered on the County Government Center garage at 400 Middlefield Road, which serves county offices and has more than 1,000 parking stalls, according to the County of San Mateo. Because the structure sits next to the Hall of Justice, any police activity there can quickly ripple into courthouse access and downtown traffic.
Response and timeline
Deputies and officers worked methodically through the garage, checking the vehicle and conducting a sweep before allowing anyone back inside, as reported by CBS News Bay Area. By about 11:30 AM, the Sheriff's Office said there was no merit to the earlier reports, and the structure was reopened to the public. Officials later reiterated that there was no credible threat.
Why false alarms happen
Incidents like this have cropped up around the Peninsula in recent years and often end with a collective sigh of relief rather than an actual emergency. In one 2024 case, a “suspicious device” along Middlefield Road in Atherton turned out to be a mosquito-monitoring trap set by the county Vector and Mosquito Control District, according to Redwood City Pulse.
Officials thanked residents and workers for their patience during the brief shutdown and asked anyone who might have seen something in or around the garage to contact the Redwood City Police Department's non-emergency line at (650) 780-7100 or the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office at (650) 363-4911. For updates and official notices, visit the Redwood City Police or the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
