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Toy Grenade Forces Evacuation; Bomb Squad Called In

Posted: 2:37 pm EST November 6, 2009Updated: 5:04 pm EST November 6, 2009

A suspicious device that forced the evacuation of part of a Forsyth County subdivision and brought out the GBI bomb squad turned out to be a toy hand grenade.

The bomb squad was called to a Forsyth County subdivision Friday afternoon after the suspicious device was found near the front door of a home.

Five homes in the Creekstone Place subdivision were evacuated.

News Chopper 2 was over the scene shortly after police arrived. Video from the neighborhood fed from News Chopper 2 showed a police car blocking off one end of the street, with a fire truck blocking the other.

Yellow crime scene tape roped off the front yard of the house and reached across the street into a neighbor's yard.

The home belongs to Scott Pruitt, a former Forsyth Deputy who was tried and convicted in federal court of viewing child pornography on a county computer.

But before his sentencing, it came to light there was some missing evidence that could exonerate Pruitt. His sentencing - and the entire case - is in limbo. Pruitt is still in federal custody.

After studying the device from a distance and taking pictures, a member of the GBI team walked up to the house, picked up the device and dropped it into a bag.

A spokesman for the Forsyth County sheriff's department confirmed the device was a toy.

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