Student Arrested After White Powder Scare

After a at the Farmington Valley Diagnostic Center in Avon revealed it was only baking soda, police charged a student there with first-degree breach of peace.

The 17-year-old male, whose name the police declined to release, posted a $5,000 bond and appeared in court before a judge on April 26. 

The and collaborated on the investigation. The Department of Energy and Environmental protection assisted while members from the Regional Hazmat Team tested the substance.

The perimeter around the diagnostic center was taped off during the on-scene investigation which lasted from 2:18 p.m. until a little before 5 p.m. Wednesday. A staff member found the white powder and called the police. Students had already been dismissed from the school, but staff was evacuated.

The Capitol Region Education Council operates the school, which services several public schools in the region, including Farmington. Students with behavioral and learning issues are sent there temporarily for analysis. The center then provides respective schools with strategies to educate those students when they return to a public school environment.

is next door to the center, which is located at 395 West Avon Rd. in the same plaza as , and . Buses were arriving to pick up the middle school students at the time of the cool and afterschool activities continued as usual. The businesses nearby were also unaffected.