Bomb Threat Clears Streets and Buildings

Several buildings were evacuated and a major intersection in Van Nuys was closed Tuesday morning for about three hours after a man called police and said seven nuclear bombs were planted in a car parked near a church, authorities said.

Police said the caller said the bombs were in a brown Datsun parked near the Church on the Way in the 14300 block of Sherman Way. Nearby buildings were evacuated about 9 a.m. and three blocks of Sherman Way were closed between Van Nuys Boulevard and Tyrone Avenue.

The evacuated area included the Sherman Way and Lennox Avenue intersection, the site of the church. The bomb threat caused severe traffic congestion in the largely commercial area near Sherman Way and Van Nuys Boulevard, two heavily traveled roads during the morning commute, police said.

Members of the Los Angeles police bomb squad and the criminal conspiracy unit were called to the scene after a car matching the description given by the caller was found parked at the curb on Lennox Avenue, next to the church.

Spray-painted on the car was the number “7” and the words “Hot,” “The End” and “LAPD Capt. VAL only,” an apparent reference to Capt. Valentino Paniccia, who attends a different church nearby, police said.

Bomb-sniffing dogs were used to approach the car but gave no indication that an explosive device was inside. Later, bomb experts detonated small charges on the car that blew out the windows and popped open the trunk. But the blasts did not trigger an explosion and when the car was finally searched about 11:30 a.m., no explosives were found, Detective Bob Muldrew said.

Paniccia could not be reached for comment. But Officer Don Lawrence, a department spokesman, said Paniccia did not know why he apparently had been singled out. “We are not looking at this as being directed toward him,” Lawrence said.

Police said the caller telephoned twice about 8 a.m. and said he had left seven nuclear devices in the car. The caller, who identified himself as “White Eagle,” said the only person who could deactivate the devices was Paniccia, who is a patrol commander at the Foothill Division in Pacoima. The man called back a short time later to say, “Don’t go near the car.”

By late Tuesday, no arrests had been made.