RICHBURG, S.C. -- Dozens of people were forced out of bed Friday morning at a Chester County motel where they were sleeping.

"It was not fun. I would never want to do that," said June Tennant, a clerk at the Super 8 Motel just off Interstate 77.

Just after 7 a.m., sheriff's deputies surrounded the Super 8 Motel. The parking lot was full of police cruisers, fire engines, ambulances and a bomb squad from Columbia.

Sheriff's deputies said a man in Room 105 called them to say someone was attacking him. Deputies found no attacker, but the 47-year-old man from Florida told them he had something in his car.

"He was acting strange, and out of the ordinary," said Chester County Sheriff Richard Smith.

Deputies searched a green Ford Focus in the motel parking lot and found an odd device.

"It was like a booby trap," Smith said. "Like a tripping device where you can walk past something and make it go off."

The sheriff ordered the motel staff to evacuate all the guests. About 35 of the 60 rooms were occupied, and people were told to leave immediately. The gas line to the motel was also briefly shut off.

Deputies called state bomb experts in for help. They sent remote-controlled robots into the man's motel room to look for any other devices. Later, they used the robots to detonate the device found in the car.

They also discovered Tasers and a small grenade that appeared to be a harmless military look-a-like.

Tennant said the man had checked in around 3 a.m. Friday.

"He looked spaced out, like he was on something," she said. "He just said he was tired and needed to stop for a while."

Later, Tennant said he called her at the front desk saying someone was trying to break into his room.

"I walked outside the office to look, but there was no one there," she said.

Sheriff's deputies took the man into custody and then sent him for a mental evaluation. Eyewitness News is not releasing his name because charges are still pending.

After Chester County deputies got a search warrant, they searched the man's motel room. The window, mirrors, TV and the smoke detector were covered with towels, tape and paper.

"It doesn't appear the man threatened anyone at the motel," Smith said. “We still don't know much about what he was doing."