Police called to presidential palace over suspicious noise caused by abandoned e-bike

Lithuanian police briefly cordoned off an area near the presidential palace in Vilnius on Tuesday evening after reports of a suspicious package, only to find the source was an improperly parked electric scooter with a malfunctioning alarm, LRT reports.

The incident began when officers received a call at 5:40 PM about a suspicious basket left on Universiteto Street, directly opposite the presidential offices. Police quickly secured the scene and restricted traffic while bomb disposal units investigated.

Ramūnas Matonis, a police spokesperson, confirmed the alarm was false. “Nothing unusual occurred. We received a report about a suspicious basket near the presidency. After inspection, no dangerous items were found—the information about explosives was unconfirmed,” he told BNS news agency.

The noise originated from a Bolt e-scooter’s attached storage basket, which had triggered an anti-theft alarm due to being left in an unstable position. “When you don’t park it properly, it starts beeping,” Matonis explained. He added that the emergency response plan Skydas (Shield) was not activated during the incident.

Authorities have not released further details about the scooter’s owner or whether any penalties will be issued for causing the false alarm.