Traffic shuts down due to bomb concerns
A pressure cooker prompts sheriff’s deputies to call in arson, explosives unit
A pressure cooker left suspiciously at the base of traffic lights in Valencia Friday afternoon prompted local sheriff’s deputies to shutdown traffic in the area for two hours and call in the bomb squad.
In the end, at 5 p.m., specially trained members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Arson/Explosives Unit determined that the device -- a common kitchen pressure cooker -- was not an explosive device, Lt. Leo Bauer told The Signal.
“The items itself was a pressure cooker,”
he said. “But, because of where it was place at the intersection it was determined to be suspicious in nature.
“As a result, we called in the LASD’s Arson/Explosives Unit,” Bauer said. “The bomb squad robot rendered it safe and they (unit members) determined it not to be an explosive device.”
The whole incident began shortly before 2:25 p.m. Friday, when deputies found the device and shut down a stretch of Newhall Ranch Road.
Deputies with the help of city of Santa Clarita Public Works crews stopped all westbound traffic on Newhall Ranch Road at Copper Hill Drive and Rye Canyon Road, Bauer said.
At the same time, officers with the California Highway Patrol were asked by the Sheriff’s Station to stop all eastbound traffic on Newhall Ranch Road at Interstate 5, a spokeswoman at the CHP headquarters office said.
“We are taking the necessary precautions to ensure safety of the public. Be prepared for traffic delays in the immediate area, as we have closed several intersections as we await the arrival of the LASD Arson/Explosives unit to access the suspicious package,” according to a Sheriff’s Station statement.
Other road closures in effect near the Rye Canyon Road intersection included:
Westbound Newhall Ranch Road at Dickason Drive.
Eastbound Newhall Ranch Road at Gateway Village
Northbound Rye Canyon at Avenue Scott
Southbound Copper Hill Drive (Rye Canyon) at Kelly Johnson Parkway
Northbound I-5 Freeway off-ramp to Eastbound Newhall Ranch Road, traffic diverted to Westbound Newhall Ranch Road only.
The Sheriff’s Department Arson/Explosives Unit arrived at the scene around 4 p.m. to check out the package.
Bomb squad members concentrated their efforts around a pressure cooker -- a device used in kitchen cooking -- left at the base of traffic lights near the Walmart parking lot.
The silver-and-gray pressure cooker was found at the base of traffic lights positioned on the west side of West Rye Canyon Road at Newhall Ranch Road.
Squad members set up the remote-controlled bomb squad robot on a street across from the pressure cooker.
Shortly before 5 p.m., the Bomb squad robot grabbed the suspicious package - believed to be a pressure cooker -- shook it, rolled it, turned it upside and down, shone a light into it and revealed it was empty, an eyewitness said.
A member of the LASD Arson/Explosives Unit then walked over to the device, picked it up and walked back to the bomb squad’s vehicle with it.