Capitol Police assigned to the Supreme Court say a slipping belt on the loading dock elevator set of a smoke detector Monday, causing them to briefly evacuate the building.
Police said the fire department cleared the elevator problem in a matter of minutes and the elevator company fixed the problem by replacing the motor's belts and the elevator is now back in service.
He said the building was evacuated only because officers hadn't had time to check and see if the problem was serious when alarms went off just before the Supreme Court was to convene a morning hearing.
"The belts made a rubber smell and there was a minor amount of smoke (in the elevator shaft)," he said. "It was nothing."