Man With “Joker” Lipstick Leaves Suspicious Device at Puppy Store

Bomb Squad determined device was extra phone battery pack

The Stamford, Conn. police bomb squad responded to a puppy store Thursday morning, after a suspicious man wearing red lipstick that extended to his cheeks, like The Joker from Batman, placed a cell phone with a “suspicious external device attached” on the store counter, then drove away, according to Norwalk Police.

Authorities evacuated Puppies of Westport and surrounding businesses as a safety precaution. Bomb squad technicians investigated the suspicious device and determined it did not contain any explosives—it was an extra phone battery.

Police said the suspicious man entered the store through an unlocked entrance prior to the 11 a.m. opening of the puppy store. The man in his 20s placed the phone down then had a conversation with a store employee. The man asked if the store had any rescue dogs, then walked out and drove away in a burgundy-colored vehicle.

The man has not been identified and Norwalk police said in a statement Thursday they “hope to speak with [the] man involved, and return his phone."

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