Police cordon off Bedford Avenue in Bellmore Village, possibly because of suspicious package

The Nassau County Police Department’s Hazardous Materials and Emergency Services units cordoned off a section of Bedford Avenue in Bellmore Village, between Wilson Avenue to the south and Linden Street to the north, on Wednesday afternoon.

There were unconfirmed reports that a suspicious package containing a white powdery substance and possibly a note was sent to the Little Shoppe of Stitches needlepoint store, which sits beside the Bellmore Playhouse in a row of shops that includes a pizzeria, a laundromat and a Chinese restaurant.

At 5:15 p.m., two officers from the Hazardous Materials Unit, donning white protective suits and facemasks, entered the needlepoint shop. Meanwhile, an uniformed officer sat outside the shop with a laptop in his hands. According to bystanders, police had been at the scene for more than an hour at that point.

At 5:30 p.m., uniformed officers without protective gear entered the shop. At 5:40 p.m., officers sealed off the shop with yellow police tape that was attached to two chairs and a table from the pizzeria next door. According to an officer at the scene, the Hazardous Materials and Emergency Services units then began packing up.

At press time, police were not saying what prompted the investigation.