WILMONT — Santa Monica police closed down a portion of Wilshire Boulevard and surrounding streets near the Third Street Promenade Friday morning after finding a bomb that turned out to be a movie prop.
SMPD Sgt. Robert Lucio said a janitor was throwing garbage away around 7 a.m. in the alley just west of Fourth Street and north of Wilshire Boulevard when he saw something that looked like a bomb.
Police were notified and set up a perimeter and began evacuating nearby apartments and businesses from Fourth Street west to Second Street, from Wilshire Boulevard to California Avenue. Those streets were closed for roughly two hours while the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Bomb Squad diffused the situation.
Officers who responded said the suspicious device looked real. There were sticks of what appeared to be dynamite wrapped together with black tape. Wires could be seen coming out of the device.
Lucio said the bomb squad determined the dynamite was fake and the device was most likely a movie prop mistakenly thrown away.
“It looked like the real deal for a reason,” Lucio said.
Residents said they were unable to get their cars out of Parking Structure 9 on Fourth Street because access was blocked by police, and were late for work. Some were frustrated but others said they were pleased with the police officers’ response to a potentially dangerous situation and passed the time drinking coffee and chatting with neighbors.
kevinh@www.smdp.com