Bomb Squad Detonates Suspicious Device Found in Abandoned Car on 605 Freeway

UPDATE: Arson investigators have determined that what was initially feared to be a pipe bomb was of no threat. 

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Both directions of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway were shut down early Tuesday after Cerritos sheriff's deputies discovered a suspicious device under the seat of an abandoned car on a freeway onramp in Cerritos, which investigators later determined to be of no threat.

The abandoned car found near the South Street onramp to the 605 Freeway was reported to the California Highway Patrol about 11:30 p.m. Monday, according to Lt. George Berumen of the Cerritos Sheriff's Station. When responding CHP officers found the suspicious item inside the vehicle, they immediately contacted Cerritos authorities. 

Arriving sheriff's deputies discovered what was "believed to be an explosive device underneath one of the seats of the vehicle" and summoned a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's arsons explosives team, the lieutenant said.

The car was a gray or silver Audi A4 with no license plates, a news photographer reported from the scene.

Over the next hour, a portion of the 605 freeway was shut down in both directions while a bomb squad investigated what was initially feared to be a pipe bomb, Berumen said.  

A robotic device was used to remove the suspicious item, which was blown up in the freeway median, a news photographer reported.

The suspicious device was later determined to be no threat, said Sgt. Harry Drucker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

All freeway lanes were reopened by around 2 a.m., said CHP Officer Cheyenne Quesada.

No evacuations were issued in the area.

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