SANTA ANA : Explosions Turn Out to Be Part of Drill

Some residents around the abandoned Skate Ranch center were jolted out of bed Monday night when they heard explosions nearby.

But the blasts turned out to be from training sessions for police officers and FBI agents at the former skating center at 2526 N. Main St., Santa Ana Police Lt. Robert Helton said Tuesday.

“We were assisting the FBI in a SWAT-related training exercise in which we had participated in the past,” but not at that location, Helton said.

He added that these exercises are performed “periodically at various locations” but declined to elaborate.

Helton said in Monday’s training, which started about 11:30 p.m., officers used “flash bangs,” which caused the commotion that may have awakened neighbors. The device--the size of a golf ball--can cause a concussion on contact but is “non-lethal,” the lieutenant said.

Several residents who live across the Santa Ana Freeway from Skate Ranch telephoned police about the noise, Helton said.

Gene Sego, who lives at 2341 Riverside Drive, said “multiple explosions and gunfire going off” awoke him near midnight. When he looked out his back yard beyond his fence, he saw officers in black uniforms scampering across Skate Ranch’s roof.

“I can’t believe they were doing this right next to the freeway, with commuters going back and forth,” said Sego, 42. “It’s totally unacceptable to have gunshots this close to people and waking them up.”

Law enforcement agencies generally choose training sights away from residential areas, said Helton, who added that Monday night’s exercise was the first time Santa Ana police have received any citizen complaints.

“It think that that’s once too often,” said Scott Davis, who lives at 2345 Riverside Drive. “We pride our safety and our peace of mind here, and hearing what we heard is counter why we live in this area.”

After decades of operation, Skate Ranch closed recently and will be demolished to make way for widening of the Santa Ana Freeway.