Scores Are Evacuated After Grenades Found in Apartment

The discovery of four World War II-era grenades in an apartment north of Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre prompted authorities to evacuate scores of residents Friday before bomb-disposal crews blew up the devices in a back alley.

Officers said they found the grenades after deputies attempted to serve an eviction notice on a resident in the 1700 block of Orchid Avenue.

Los Angeles Police Department bomb-disposal crews declined to say whether the “pineapple”-type renades were still active, but they said they saw traces of “active powder” on the devices. The grenades were blown up in a pit dug in the alleyway.

Resident Valerie Simpson, 60, said she heard officers yell “fire in the hole” before she heard four explosions, “a dull muffled thud, like somebody dropping something from high up.”

The grenades were discovered after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies attempted to serve an eviction notice on an apartment dweller. Deputies arrested the man, who was not identified, when he answered the door holding a handgun, authorities said.

Deputies then asked police to obtain a search warrant for the apartment.

The search turned up narcotics, handguns, rifles and a box of ammunition that also contained the grenades, police said.

City animal control officers also removed several lizards and snakes from the building.

Residents were evacuated from several nearby apartment buildings about 4 p.m. and waited several hours for the grenades to be disposed of.