Countywide : No Charges Planned Over Bomb Scare
No charges will be brought against a 31-year-old Santa Barbara man who was responsible for a bomb scare last week at the Government Center in Ventura, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said Tuesday.
James Robert Lipking, a longtime mental health patient, handed a crudely wrapped package to security guards in the Hall of Justice on Dec. 16 and asked that it be delivered to “Hewlett Packard Command,” authorities said.
About 200 people were evacuated from the courthouse for two hours while explosives technicians disposed of what appeared to be a bomb.
The package was found to contain talcum powder and two AA batteries.
Prosecutors said they decided not to file charges because they could not show that Lipking intended that people mistake the device for a bomb.
Lipking has instead been released to Santa Barbara mental health authorities for further treatment, authorities said.
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