By Josh Grossberg
Staff Writer
A San Pedro hotel was evacuated this morning after police received reports that a bomb exploded in the underground garage.
Police later decided that the incident at the Clarion Hotel at 111. S. Gaffey St. was most likely an act of vandalism, but not before the entire city of Los Angeles was put on tactical alert.
The incident began at 7:30 a.m. when several guests heard a loud noise.
"I heard a big bang," said Colette, a guest at the hotel from Canada who did not give her last name. "It sounded ike a chunk of concrete fell."
Within minutes, guests were told to leave the building.
"After 10 minutes, police knocked on our door telling us we had to evacuate immediately," said Don Ketcham or Arizona.
Like several of the hotel patrons, Ketham was in town for a cruise to Mexico that was leaving later in the day. Many of them stood in nearby parking lots with their luggage waiting for word on when they could return to their rooms.
Ketcham and his family were able to grab some of their belongings, but he was forced to leave some things behind, including his car. But he was happy that he would be able to make it to the ship on time.
"I'm going to make the cruise," he said. "But I won't have all my clothes."
An officer from the Port of Los Angeles police arrived on the scene first and discovered broken glass near a Lincoln Navigator. After he noticed that there was a softball-sized hole in the car door, the bomb squad was called and the facility evacuated. Police also closed streets in a two-bock radius of the hotel.
About 8:30, Los Angeles police across the city were notified that a major event was occurring in the Harbor Division, and that a tactical alert was being declared. Police citywide were kept on overtime while a response was being formulated.
A robot was used to search the car to see if there were any explosives inside.
"We brought the world in to help, but this could be very simple," said Deput Chief Patrick Gannon
Indeed, by 10:30 a.m., police determined that there was no bomb. The damage could have been caused by something smaller -- a gun or firecracker, among other possibilities -- but Romero said the noise was amplified because the ground-floor parking structure is enclosed.
"Officers didn't see any evidence of an explosion," said Los Angeles police Lt. John Romero. "But we still want to be very careful how to proceed. Something did happen to the car. Now they have to figure out what happened and who did it."
He said it appeared that there was no damage to the hotel.
Tim Kosta of Oregon was in the hotel with a group of family members.
"I was scared, completely scared," he said. "The whole family is here and the next thing you know, we're on the street. But luckily we're alive."
His nephew, David Clark, said the event would give him something to talk about when he gets home.
"In a weird way, it's a little exciting," he said.
Police said they were keenly aware that the hotel patrons were on a tight schedule and were working as quickly as they could. And by 11 a.m., a bus arrived to carry the vacationers to the nearby cruise terminal.
They loaded their luggage onto the bus, hopped on board and headed off to their second adventure of the day.
"Some vacation," Colette said. "Welcome to L.A."
Police later decided that the incident at the Clarion Hotel at 111. S. Gaffey St. was most likely an act of vandalism, but not before the entire city of Los Angeles was put on tactical alert.
The incident began at 7:30 a.m. when several guests heard a loud noise.
"I heard a big bang," said Colette, a guest at the hotel from Canada who did not give her last name. "It sounded ike a chunk of concrete fell."
Within minutes, guests were told to leave the building.
"After 10 minutes, police knocked on our door telling us we had to evacuate immediately," said Don Ketcham or Arizona.
Like several of the hotel patrons, Ketham was in town for a cruise to Mexico that was leaving later in the day. Many of them stood in nearby parking lots with their luggage waiting for word on when they could return to their rooms.
Ketcham and his family were able to grab some of their belongings, but he was forced to leave some things behind, including his car. But he was happy that he would be able to make it to the ship on time.
"I'm going to make the cruise," he said. "But I won't have all my clothes."
An officer from the Port of Los Angeles police arrived on the scene first and discovered broken glass near a Lincoln Navigator. After he noticed that there was a softball-sized hole in the car door, the bomb squad was called and the facility evacuated. Police also closed streets in a two-bock radius of the hotel.
About 8:30, Los Angeles police across the city were notified that a major event was occurring in the Harbor Division, and that a tactical alert was being declared. Police citywide were kept on overtime while a response was being formulated.
A robot was used to search the car to see if there were any explosives inside.
"We brought the world in to help, but this could be very simple," said Deput Chief Patrick Gannon
Indeed, by 10:30 a.m., police determined that there was no bomb. The damage could have been caused by something smaller -- a gun or firecracker, among other possibilities -- but Romero said the noise was amplified because the ground-floor parking structure is enclosed.
"Officers didn't see any evidence of an explosion," said Los Angeles police Lt. John Romero. "But we still want to be very careful how to proceed. Something did happen to the car. Now they have to figure out what happened and who did it."
He said it appeared that there was no damage to the hotel.
Tim Kosta of Oregon was in the hotel with a group of family members.
"I was scared, completely scared," he said. "The whole family is here and the next thing you know, we're on the street. But luckily we're alive."
His nephew, David Clark, said the event would give him something to talk about when he gets home.
"In a weird way, it's a little exciting," he said.
Police said they were keenly aware that the hotel patrons were on a tight schedule and were working as quickly as they could. And by 11 a.m., a bus arrived to carry the vacationers to the nearby cruise terminal.
They loaded their luggage onto the bus, hopped on board and headed off to their second adventure of the day.
"Some vacation," Colette said. "Welcome to L.A."
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