LA freeway gridlocked for hours after "dummy bomb" found

[not systems]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/13/state/n221904S96.DTL

Gridlock gripped a freeway during rush hour Monday evening as police investigated a suspicious object found alongside the roadway that turned out to be a non-explosive bomb.

The Police Department bomb squad requested help from military ordnance experts after they x-rayed the device and weren't able to determine what was inside, said Officer Mike Lopez. The experts determined it was "a dummy bomb" and began working to remove the 400-to 500-pound cylinder, Lopez said.

The bomb, which was believed to have fallen off a truck, was to be transported to Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert.

...

[pinniped]

1. Every time I'm down there on those freeways it's always gridlocked.

I bet no one even knew.

[magellan]

2. I sat through the removal of a pipe bomb from the 405 freeway once

...but a 400-500 lb bomb would be a sight to inspire fear!

[BeHereNow]

3. Holy Shite-

Glad I wasn't on THAT freeway today!
It's bad enough here in regular rush hour traffic.
I can't imagine what that must have been like!
Blank "cluster bomb?"
Well, hell...that's just great.
How long before the accidentally
lose a live one?
BHN

[truthisfreedom]

4. how incredibly strange... a fake bomb falls off a truck on an LA freeway?

i thought stuff like that only happened in the movies.

[neweurope]

10. My thoughts exactly.

Wonder for which occasion that fake bomb was originally planned for...



-------------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[snooper2]

17. Um.. training?

you wouldn't want to learn how to load munitions on a plane using live loads now would ya :crazy:

[neweurope]

19. No, I wouldn't :)

You're right - the natural explanation is the best :)

--------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Megahurtz]

14. Only in California!

:sarcasm:

[Wise Doubter]

5. I`m glad I live in the SGV !!.....

not that the traffic is any better.:mad:

With or without a scare. It`s all scary enough.:wow:

[DRoseDARs]

6. What in the hell is a non-explosive bomb? Besides an oxymoron? nt

:shrug:

[2Design]

8. it is named a 'bomb' only for the fear factor but has nothing to do

with reality - these cry wolf things are going to back fire sooner or later

[0007]

12. 'Tis a misbeseeming way of life...or another way to say WTF!

[kestrel91316]

7. Sounds kind of like the "bomb" next to a local bank that kept me from

getting to my office one recent morning. The cops came and blocked all the streets and pedestrian access for half a mile in every direction for two hours, and ultimately the "bomb" turned out to be a homeless person's abandoned junk.

Have to give the bomb squad credit for not feeling the need to detonate it.

[wookie294]

9. Isn't Empire fun ?

I just love paying for Israel, oil and Iraq by sitting in gridlock. Americans are suckers for allowing our elected leaders to meddle in foreign nations.

[longship]

11. SoCal sucks!

I've lived in the Inland Empire (Ontario) for seven agonizing years. You can't drive anywhere at any time of day or night without risk of a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam. I never thought is was possible for a car to "turtle" in a stop-and-go jam, but I've seen more than one car flipped over right smack dab in the middle of a hideous, we're goin' nowhere jam up.

And more people are moving in every day, they're building new houses everywhere (all big, Republican ones). Property values have skyrocketed. House has more than tripled in value in five years. My very small, 2BR/1Bath <1200 ft^2 house is valued at over $350K!!! It ain't gonna be a pretty sight in SoCal when the bubble bursts.

[Wise Doubter]

13. The main reason(s) I`m gettin` outta here !!

My mom lives in Lake Elsinore and the 15 & 215 are becoming the 405 and the 101 with more and more houses being built.

[MissMillie]

15. "non-explosive bomb"????

Ummmm..... if it's non-explosive, is "bomb" the right term to use?

[Roland99]

16. I just had a non-explosive turkey sandwich for lunch

Guess it's a bomb, too.

[MurrayDelph]

18. I used to live up there

and my best friend still does (He lives on the surface street that ALL of the traffic was
diverted to). It's the only good thing about his having been laid off two weeks ago, that
he was already home when it happened rather than being stuck on the freeway.