The High Cost of Bomb-Threat Response

After spending the last month chasing stories about bomb scares reported throughout the county--many of which turned out to be bogus--I was curious how much money these cases had cost taxpayers.

Ready for a bombshell?

At a total cost of more than $155,000 in salaries, benefits and special equipment, the sheriff’s bomb squad responded to 12 reports of suspicious devices since the Littleton, Colo., shootings on April 20, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Higgason.

In five of those cases, deputies found pipe bombs and other explosive devices in a bedroom, a dumpster, on the shoulders of roadways and outside a fire station.

In the other seven cases, fake devices, fireworks and an empty suitcase were found. Most were found on school campuses.

Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Parks said fake bomb threats are a special problem because authorities must respond, whether or not they think the calls are phony.

“We are always going to respond because we are a public safety organization, but it’s not a good use of our resources if we use them for hoaxes,” Parks noted.

At least two bomb squad members respond to every case, at a cost of about $500. At least one member wears a $700 fire-retardant suit and carries a $2,500 X-ray wand used to examine the contents of packages. Another member operates the $140,000 bomb-retrieving robot.

The device is placed inside a $5,000 bomb bucket for transport.

The bomb unit is invaluable, Parks said, because you can’t put a price on human life.

You can, however, estimate the cost of a hoax.

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Use redial, go to jail.

That’s what happened recently to 24-year-old Oxnard resident Steve Gutierrez.

He was arrested after allegedly breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and pushing the redial button on her telephone.

Instead of reaching his former flame’s new beau, a 911 dispatcher answered.

“He just phoned in his ticket to jail,” said Port Hueneme Police Cmdr. Jerry Beck.

The night before he was arrested, Gutierrez had allegedly gone to Veronica Zarate’s Ann Avenue apartment in Port Hueneme and harassed her.

The 25-year-old Zarate, who has a restraining order against Gutierrez, called police.

According to Beck, on two earlier occasions Zarate had called 911 to report Gutierrez but he fled before cops arrived.

Such was the case the night before his arrest, Beck said.

So when Gutierrez accidentally called 911 and hung up, officers moved swiftly, police said. Beck said Gutierrez was captured after leaving the apartment through a window.

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Police are warning of a prowler in the coastal Pierpont area of Ventura.

Twice in the past two weeks, sleeping couples awoke in the middle of the night to find a man in their bedrooms.

In one case, the resident of a house on Winthrop Lane woke up to find a man standing a few feet from his bed watching television.

After a struggle, the prowler escaped, accidentally dropping a small night-vision telescope he had brought along.

In the other case, the prowler slipped into a home on Woodstock Lane through an unlocked door. The man fled when the residents woke up.

Both crimes occurred in the same neighborhood at about the same time, around 1 a.m., leading police to believe they are searching for the same man in both cases.

Police have released a composite sketch of the prowler, described as a white man between 20 and 25, about 5 feet 8 and 180 to 190 pounds. The Winthrop Lane prowler was wearing a sweatshirt and pants and a baseball cap on backward. He may have suffered minor cuts and scrapes during the struggle.

“There are some weird people out there. Some will come into your house and some will peep in your windows,” Ventura Police Sgt. Bob Anderson said.

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There are also some slow people out there.

At the Camarillo Outlet Mall, deputies recently arrested a 28-year-old Van Nuys man who allegedly tried to steal a $400 Armani suit.

Sergio Barros took several suits, size 39 regular, into a changing room at Barneys of New York, authorities said. Using a small pair of wire cutters, Barros snipped off the metal sensor tag attached to the suit, deputies said.

“He forgets and isn’t thinking and puts the sensor in his pocket, which sets off the store’s alarm when he leaves,” said Senior Deputy Jim Aguirre.

Barros told deputies he saw the suit a week earlier and really wanted it but couldn’t afford it, Aguirre said.

“He didn’t think it through completely,” Aguirre said.

An understatement.

Holly J. Wolcott can be reached by e-mail at holly.wolcott@latimes.com.