There's something fishy up in San Fernando
Just about every bomb scare plays out like this: suspicious package turns up, people freak out, the bomb squad comes out, then someone's gym bag/backpack/briefcase gets examined or blown up. Most turn out to be nothing, thank goodness. And, given the stakes if you get it wrong, I'm all for an overabundance of caution-- better to have a laugh about the "bomb" that turned out to be someone's dirty laundry rather than the "dirty laundry" that turned out to be a bomb.
With that in mind, this was really pretty funny.
SAN FERNANDO - A forgotten sandwich, an alleged Sylmar explosives maker and an anonymous bomb threat brought the San Fernando Courthouse to a halt, police said Friday.
Cops chuckled over the bizarre coincidence today, but they were deadly serious Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m., when an anonymous man picked up a payphone on Laurel Canyon Boulevard and claimed he was going to blow up the courthouse.
Tim Komonyi, a Sylmar electrical engineer, was on trial in a bomb case. The called the Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who oversee the court. A sweep of the building revealed a suspicious package outside, next to a planter.
"We take every necessary precaution," said court spokesman Allan Parachini. "Often, it turns out to be innocuous ... but the best thing to do with a bomb threat is to find out what it is."
Coincidentally, sheriff's Deputy Ed Nordskog, a bomb expert, was in court to testify in Komonyi's case. Deputies brought him to the scene, where he determined the package could be connected to the trial. He identified it as potentially lethal, with a kill radius of 150 feet and enough power to affect the entire first floor.
Authorities convened and elected to evacuate the building. The bomb squad rolled. By 11 a.m., the court cleared out.
News of a "major incident" raced through the 2.4-square-mile city. San Fernando Middle School went on lock down. School police sent four units. Streets closed. The city administrator and police chief were called.
Luis Aguirre, who was in court to take care of a traffic ticket, noticed the commotion all centered around the spot he'd been sitting a few hours earlier. He made his way to the front of the crowd and notified the incident commander he had valuable information.
"It was just my lunch," he laughed later. "It was just a fish sandwich, but everyone was scared."
As a final precaution, sheriff's bomb technicians X-rayed the bag and found that it was, in fact, a fish sandwich. Street barricades disappeared, the school went back to normal and everyone sighed with relief as the court reopened for business.
"We were done at 12:03," said Lt. Tony Ruelas, SFPD's patrol commander. "Hey, right in time for lunch."
Aguirre agreed, retrieving his X-rayed fish and going on with his day.
"Afterward, I just ate it," he said. "It was fine."
Such was not the case for Komonyi. SFPD is now investigating to see if he put someone up to making the call.
You shoulda heard my futile attempts to have a sensible conversation with Mr. Aguirre in Spanish. They didn't teach "Was your lunch a bomb?" in Spanish 1, unfortunately. But luckily, I got the point across and he spoke good enough English that we got by.
The story also got a few comments from readers:
I didn't know Fish had such a large Kill radius, I guess if any jurors read how they over reacted and had wild fantasys roll through there head they might see there sometimes full of B.S.
I can't understand someone eating anything that was outside of there view, let alone fish left out for several hours doesn't food poisioning come to mind ?
Just a thought | 11.10.07 - 1:54 pm | #
They should have done a cat scan on the package. A cat would have recognized it by the smell.
Marshall Sumner | 11.10.07 - 7:24 pm | #
The first one's a little confusing, by I enjoyed Mr. Sumner's suggestion. I've heard of bomb-sniffing dogs, but perhaps we need a feline unit, as well.
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