Call it revenge of the nurds.
Someone called 911 on Tuesday morning claiming that an explosive was found on Ocean Parkway, but — following an investigation that halted traffic along the heavily-travelled thoroughfare for more than an hour — all cops found was a fake grenade called a “nurd.”
A patrol car responded to the scene near Kings Highway at 9:15 am, confirming that a grenade was found sitting amidst a thatch of weeds at the base of a tree.
The NYPD Bomb Squad cordoned off a four-block radius around the potential explosive, causing a massive traffic jam as cars were rerouted to other avenues.
But, luckily, all of the precautions were unnecessary: the Bomb Squad determined that the grenade was an inert replica — probably a novelty item or a prop from a movie, police sources say.
Cops are now looking for the person who left the fake grenade by the tree, but admitted it was going to be difficult to track the would-be prankster down.
Reach reporter Colin MIxson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.
