Fake Pipe Bomb at Iranian Eatery Forces Evacuation

About five homes and 10 businesses in Orange were evacuated Sunday morning when a device at first believed to be a pipe bomb was found propped against an Iranian restaurant at 1722 N. Tustin Ave., police reported.

After about 3 anxious hours, police dismantled the device and found that it was a cleverly made fake bomb, said Sgt. Timm Browne, spokesman for the Orange Police Department. “There was no explosive in it, but it was rigged to look like a bomb if it were X-rayed,” he said. No one was injured, and the evacuation was orderly and without incident, Browne said. The scene of the bomb scare was a shopping center near the northwest corner of the intersection of North Tustin and Taft avenues.

The origin of the fake bomb and its intent are not known, Browne said. “There have been no threats received by anyone (about a possible bomb), and no one has come forward to claim responsibility,” Browne added.

“There was concern that this was a real pipe bomb, and there was some speculation that someone might have placed it (at an Iranian-owned restaurant) in retaliation for the San Diego van-bombing incident.”

On Friday, the wife of the skipper of the San Diego-based Navy ship Vincennes escaped injury when a bomb ripped apart the van she was driving in that city. The Vincennes, commanded by Capt. Will Rogers III, last July mistakenly shot down an Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 aboard. Some officials in Tehran have vowed vengeance for the airliner downing.

Reason Not Determined

The reason for the San Diego bombing has not been determined, federal officials said, but terrorism is suspected.

Immediately after the San Diego bomb incident, some members of the Iranian community in that city expressed fear that they might suffer retribution by angry Americans.

The fake bomb found Sunday morning in Orange was discovered propped against the rear of the Dehkadeh Restaurant, which Browne said is an Iranian-specialty restaurant. “A young man working at a nearby pool supply store observed the device . . . it looked very suspicious to him,” said Browne.

“He notified us (police), and we notified the Orange County bomb squad.” The bomb squad is attached to the Sheriff’s Department.

Browne said a bomb squad robot “removed the device from the back of the building and took it into an alley.” Then bomb squad deputies, wearing heavy protection gear, dismantled the pipe by hand and determined it was a fake, Browne said.

“The device was 12 inches in length and consisted of a 3/4-inch galvanized pipe with heavy industrial plastic nipples at either end,” Browne said. “A length of wire ran from end (of the pipe) to the other, and whoever made it did that so it would look like a bomb if it were X-rayed.” Browne said the dismantling by the bomb squad took place without an X-ray of the object.

Homes, Businesses Evacuated

Browne said that the device was discovered about 11 a.m. and that the dismantling was completed by 2 p.m. During that time, he said, police evacuated “about three to five residences north and west of the area, and about five to 10 businesses in the vicinity.”

Hossein Moini, 27, son of the owner of another Iranian business in the small shopping center, said Sunday he was uncertain why the fake bomb had been planted at the nearby restaurant. Moini’s father owns Pacific Health Foods at 1718 N. Tustin Ave.

“I’m from Iran, but I’m in the process of getting my U.S. citizenship,” said Moini. “I have no idea what caused this (bomb scare), but there has been some speculation that it was because of the San Diego incident. It’s hard to tell.”