Fake Bomb Found at Plant Leads to Worker’s Arrest

A disgruntled employee at a defense plant that makes parts for the Patriot missile was arrested Wednesday after a phony bomb was found at his workstation, forcing the early-morning evacuation of at least 300 workers, police said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad approached the device with a robot and determined it to be a fake about three hours after the item--a toolbox rigged with suspicious-looking wires--was first discovered at about 9:30 a.m. at Kaiser Electroprecision.

Police arrested Auston A. Washington, 39, identified as a welder at the defense plant at 17000 Red Hill Ave. Police said Washington and several other employees were notified on Monday that they would be laid off today for economic reasons.

Washington was not present when police investigated the bomb scare that kept employees outside the building for three hours. He was arrested when he showed up at the plant in the afternoon. Washington was charged with placing a facsimile of a bomb inside a building, a felony, and lodged in Orange County Jail. Bail was set at $10,000.

Irvine Police Lt. Bob Lennert said a written note was found in the toolbox that implicated Washington in the case.