A suspicious device has been rendered safe in downtown Santa Barbara after an early evening scare.
"It was spotted by a passerby," said Santa Barbara Police Sgt. Dave Gonzales. "We immediately contacted the bomb squad."
The item was in the middle of the block, in the dirt on Garden Street between Cota and Haley.
The area was immediately cordoned off with police tape.

Santa Barbara City Firefighters said the device appeared to be made of paper mache and had a wick on it. It was described as the size of a tennis ball.
One observer said, it resembled a large fire works explosive that is sold out of the country, or used in an aerial 4th of July show.

The bomb squad used a special remote control robot to pick up the device, move it into a stack of sandbags, and destroy it with a small detonation.
The blast could be heard for at least a city block.
Businesses nearby were evacuated for about an hour and a half.
No one was hurt.

KEY News Senior Reporter John Palminteri was live on the scene with our report.