Briefcase Exploded as Precaution Held Script by Aspiring Writer
The owner has not been arrested and had left his work at a golden triangle office building in the hope that someone there would read it.
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Updated 1:25 p.m.:
A briefcase left at an office in a building on the 400 block of North Camden Drive on Thursday morning belonged to an aspiring screenwriter attempting to distribute a script.
At 9:14 a.m. the Beverly Hills Police Department responded to a "suspicious circumstances" call made by a person who saw the unattended property, which a security guard had removed from the building and left in an alley. The BHPD responded to the call by evacuating buildings and blocking off streets in the area.
The briefcase was destroyed by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department bomb squad as a precaution. It contained assorted papers and a laptop computer, said BHPD Lt. Tony Lee.
"An individual left his briefcase there hoping that somebody was going to read his script," Lee said.
Police interviewed the owner of the briefcase, who was not arrested. His name has not been released.
Posted at 11:30 a.m.:
The Beverly Hills Police Department called in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bomb squad to destroy a suspicious package left in an office building near the golden triangle shopping district Thursday morning.
The call came in to police around 9 a.m. and buildings in the area were evacuated and taped off, said BHPD Lt. Sammy Lee. The area bounded by South Santa Monica Boulevard and Brighton Way between North Camden and North Rodeo drives was secured by officers and firefighters. Pedestrians were cleared from the streets.
The bomb squad used a robotic device to blow up the briefcase in an alley near Radio Shack around 11 a.m. as a precautionary measure.
To see a video of the bomb squad robot at the scene, click here.
"Fire in the hole!" said officers before a loud explosion was heard within blocks of the area.
As the sheriff's department handled the briefcase, BHPD officers conducted an investigation into the person who may have left the briefcase unattended, Lee said.
"There are circumstances that make it a little bit suspicious," he said. "Right now obviously we're doing it on the safer side to evacuate this area."
Traffic was diverted away from the scene. Police have now opened the area to vehicles and pedestrians.
Check back with Patch for more information, photos and video.
In This article
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Radio Shack
9530 S Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA -
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Police Department
464 N Rexford Dr, Beverly Hills, CA
the suspect
9:12 am on Friday, August 12, 2011
too much thinking here, BHPD lets LAPD do the dangerous stuff. Nothing wrong with that! Too bad we'll never see that guy's script. but wait! they'll make a movie about this!!
John Doe
5:32 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The BHPD does in fact have a SWAT Team. In addition to potential hostage situations or barricaded suspects, they are deployed quite frequently to less publicized incidents and activities. For example, serving high-risk felony search warrants or additional security for dignitary visits or high-profile events.
However, as with most small city police departments, the BHPD does not have a Bomb Squad unit. The relatively low frequency of incidents does not justify the cost required to equip, train, and staff a Bomb Squad. The BHPD has plans in place to make a mutual aid request to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. for their Bomb Squad, should an incident occur. The LASD will render the device safe, and the BHPD will handle any ensuing investigation.
Hope that answers your question.