False
alarm delays traffic
Scare • The
LAPD bomb squad leaves after discovering
the suspicious package on the bus was
non-threatening. Tracey Roman / Daily
Forty-Niner
By
Jennifer Frehn
Daily Forty-Niner
News Editor
What was described as a suspicious package on an Orange County Transit bus
led to at least one car accident and delayed traffic for two hours yesterday
on Seventh Street from Channel until almost Studebaker.
According to Lt. Hans Strand, the patrol watch commander of the Orange County
Sheriff’s Office, the driver of the route 50 bus noticed no one was claiming
one of the items onboard. The driver notified his dispatch center who then
called the Los Angeles Police Department.
The LAPD then called the Orange Country Sheriff’s Office at 4:20 p.m.
An LAPD bomb squad was sent to inspect the package, described by an on site
officer as a suitcase.
“We are assisting the Orange County Sheriff because it is Orange County
Transit. We are assisting them with directing traffic,” said Public Information
Officer Greg Schirmer of the Long Beach Police Department.
At one point more than 20 people, many of whom were Cal State Long Beach students,
gathered at the corner of Seventh Street and West Campus Drive, which was blocked
off by police. Many were waiting to walk to their cars to drive home. There
were flares on the street by the Memorial Hospital.
A police officer was enforcing the blocked area and informed inquiring students
of the possible detours they could take to get back to their cars.
“We just heard a rumor that there was a suspicious package on the bus,” said
Jay Arias, a fourth-year sculpture major. “Well, whatever it takes, I parked
at Ralph’s.”
Stacey Ballard, a junior liberal arts student, was waiting for 20 minutes to
do nothing other than cross West Campus Drive to get to her car.
“I can see [my car] from here,” Ballard said. “It’s killing
me!”
After discovering that the package on the bus contained only personal items,
the LAPD opened the street at about 7:20 p.m. Traffic resumed and those gathered
around the intersection were able to cross the streets.
Elysse James contributed to this article. |
