By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2001; Page B04

A U.S. Capitol Police officer was apparently joking around when he left a powdery substance at his post inside a House office building last Wednesday, a senior member of the House said yesterday, describing a prank that has produced a criminal inquiry.

Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Administration Committee, which oversees the 1,300-member police force, said he was informed about the case yesterday by the House sergeant-at-arms.

"All I know is that an officer . . . put powder into an envelope, and it was done as a hoax. What I'm told is, it was done as a joke. But these days, it is not a laughing matter," Ney said.

Channing Phillips, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said that evidence provided by police was inadequate to bring charges and that prosecutors were conducting their own investigation.

"We are taking a hard look at it," Phillips said. "The issue is the strength of the evidence."

Lt. Dan Nichols, a Capitol Police spokesman who declined to identify the officer because no charges had been filed, said the department completed its inquiry and delivered the case to prosecutors yesterday. Police had received no request from the U.S. attorney for additional evidence, Nichols said.

Federal authorities across the country have moved aggressively to arrest and charge perpetrators of hoaxes since the outbreak of anthrax cases spread by contaminated mail. A postal worker in Stafford, Sharon Ann Watson, was the first person charged in the Washington area. Watson, 31, who allegedly enclosed baby powder in a letter because she thought her supervisors weren't taking the anthrax threat seriously, faces charges of mail tampering and mailing threatening communications.

The pursuit of such hoaxes, endorsed by Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, poses an awkward test for Capitol Police now that the incident has become public.

In this case, police suspended the officer with pay pending the outcome of the investigation after he allegedly left a powdery substance for the next officer on duty at his post near the Capitol subway station at the Cannon House Office Building.

The department's initial response suggests that officials did not believe the substance was dangerous. Police did not call a hazardous material response team, which might have tested officers and environmental samples for anthrax contamination. Instead, criminal investigators were assigned to the case, Nichols said, and an internal affairs investigation was begun.

The police informed prosecutors of the case Friday and submitted the results of their inquiry yesterday, Phillips said.

The officer who discovered the powder did not complain, according to two officers with knowledge of the case. But a third officer raised the matter with supervisors, who began an inquiry. Colleagues said the officer who is being investigated has a brother who is a lieutenant on the force.

Asked why the officer was not arrested, as others who have perpetrated hoaxes have been, Nichols said: "We had the suspect identified; we knew the parties of the case. What we needed was time to do a thorough investigation in order to provide all the facts to the U.S. attorney's office for their review."

Prosecutors said they were pursuing the case intensively, given where it occurred. "The officer is not being afforded or accorded any special treatment based on his position," Phillips said. "The case is pending."