ROCKAWAY � The driver who attempted to gain access to Picatinny Arsenal via a truck entrance on Friday morning, which caused the evacuation of the Army facility and the shutdown of Route 15, was transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility and will be arraigned on Monday, according to a Picatinny Arsenal spokesman.





UPDATE: No arraignment today for driver in Picatinny scare



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ROCKAWAY � The driver who attempted to gain access to Picatinny Arsenal via a truck entrance on Friday morning, which caused the evacuation of the Army facility and the shutdown of Route 15, was transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility and will be arraigned on Monday, according to a Picatinny Arsenal spokesman.

Spokesman Tim Rider said the vehicle attempting to gain access through the truck entrance was a car, not a truck. The charges against the driver will be released on Monday, he said.

The incident investigation shut down the highway for about four hours, causing massive traffic tieups.

The vehicle was thought to be suspicious by security personal Friday morning after the driver tried to gain access to the U.S. Army installation through the post's truck gate at about 11:30 a.m. Security personnel treated the situation as if it was an explosive threat, Picatinny Arsenal said in a press release.

One person was detained and questioned by law enforcement officials, according to the arsenal.

After an investigation by local, state, and federal employees, no explosive threat was found in the vehicle.

�While the truck gate will remain closed, normal operations will commence through the front entrance,� Picatinny Arsenal posted on its Facebook page at about 5:20 p.m.

Gate operations will continue through the Mount Hope gate for a limited time, the announcement said.

The suspicious vehicle caused evacuation of the arsenal and closed Route 15 in both directions from Route 80 to Berkshire Valley Road.

Celeste Danzi, spokeswoman for the FBI's Newark office, said the agency responded to the incident with the Picatinny police.

All entrance to the post was halted. Arsenal employees were instructed to leave the post at 1:44 p.m.

Berkshire Valley Road was closed from Taylor Road to Route 15 and Route 15 was closed from Route 80 to Berkshire Valley while the incident was investigated.

Businesses located on Route 15 between Berkshire Valley Road and Route 80, and residences located on West Union Turnpike were also evacuated, according to Sparta police.

The Rockaway Township School District was advised by officials at Picatinny Arsenal to hold students in school who would be normally transported to or past the arsenal, a representative said.

Rockaway and Jefferson schools were not locked down.

According to NBC 4 New York, the gate was locked down and employees were instructed to leave their posts shortly before 2 p.m. as robots and explosive detection devices assessed the vehicle.

Cindi Howson, of Sparta, was traveling on Route 15 south on her way to catch a flight at Newark Airport at about 1:40 p.m. when she was waved off the highway onto Berkshire Valley Road by police officers. She ended up driving through Wharton, which she described as �gridlocked.�

�Route 80 is totally backed up,� she said Friday afternoon, at about 2:45 p.m., still in the Wharton area. �Around the mall, it's a mess.�

Picatinny Arsenal is a research and manufacturing U.S. Army and Navy facility in Rockaway Township. About 6,000 civilians work at the arsenal, which provides and researches ammunition, weapons and other materials to all branches to the U.S. military. An estimated 700 Sussex County residents work at the arsenal.