Local News in Brief : Officer Loses 3 Fingers; 5th Suspect Arrested

A Burbank police officer who lost three fingers when a homemade bomb exploded in his hand was in satisfactory condition Wednesday at St. Joseph Medical Center, authorities said. Police, meanwhile, arrested a fifth person in connection with the incident.

Officer Gabriel Alvarez, 41, underwent almost seven hours of surgery Tuesday night as doctors tried to reconstruct his right hand, which was injured as he investigated a report of a bomb at a trailer park on North Hollywood Way. Surgeons were able to save a thumb and little finger, said Rhoda Weiss, a hospital spokeswoman. Alvarez is right-handed.

Weiss said Alvarez also suffered cuts and shrapnel wounds in his left hand, chest and abdomen.

Shortly after midnight Wednesday, police arrested Andrew Thompson, 25, of the 11800 block of Kittridge Street in North Hollywood on suspicion of possessing an explosive device. Thompson was being held at the Burbank Jail on $60,000 bail.

Sgt. Don Goldberg would not say what evidence tied Thompson to the incident, but said police found bomb-making materials in his apartment.

Four trailer-park residents arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of possessing an explosive device were being held Wednesday at the Burbank Jail. They were Joseph William Snow, 46, Noah Carol Scott, 42, and Scott’s two children, John Patrick Scott, 19, and Lisa Dawn Scott, 18.

Goldberg said Noah Scott, the trailer park’s manager, called police to report a bomb on the property. The bomb exploded when Alvarez, who was not a explosives expert, picked up the device. Goldberg said Scott “clearly knew what the object was,” but said it is unclear whether she hoped to harm police or simply to have the bomb removed.