Crime & Safety
Novato Police Probe Mystery Safe
Investigators are trying to determine the origin of a lockbox found early Monday morning on Hamilton Drive near Bel Marin Keys Boulevard. Opening the safe is a "last resort," police say.
Novato Police are investigating the origin of a safe mysteriously discovered early Monday morning out on Hamilton Drive near Bel Marin Keys Boulevard, Novato Police Lt. John McCarthy said.
The safe shows no signs of any attempt to pry it open, McCarthy said. How the lockbox ended up on a Novato street corner on an early summer night has vexed authorities.
“We don't know who it belongs to, if it belongs to a private party or a business or anything like that, so we're still investigating,” McCarthy said.
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Investigators have no immediate plans of trying to open the safe.
“We're not going to damage it just yet,” McCarthy said. “I think forcing it open might be a last resort.”
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Novato police investigators are in contact with outside agencies to see if it fits with any recent property crimes or any other leads that could help authorities return the safe to its rightful owner.
“We've taken a picture of it and put it over our network out to our other agencies to see if it came from an outside area,” McCarthy said. “The decision has not been made yet to force it open or to take it to a locksmith to pick it or that kind of thing.”
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Novato Police Department's Investigations Division at 415-897-4361
