A Columbia bomb squad determined that a ‘suspicious item’ found in the back of a car pulled over for speeding Wednesday night off Leesburg Road was an altered commercial firework.

A patrolling Columbia police officer pulled over a driver in the 2500 block of Bendameer Road in the Mountain Brook neighborhood between Leesburg and Garners Ferry roads Wednesday night.

After the officer saw the item in the car, the bomb squad was asked to check out the item as a precaution, Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said. The firework, which was wrapped in electrical tape, was determined not to be a threat.

The driver, 36, is being held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on two speeding charges. He was not charged with any other crime.

-- Rachael Myers Lowe and R. Darren Price