Suspicious Package Causes Evacuation of Shops in Rancho Santa Margarita

The bomb squad is called in to investigate a wrapped box with the word ‘boom’ written on it. The box turns out to be empty.

A bomb scare at a Rancho Santa Margarita shopping center prompted evacuation of a handful of employees Monday morning, but the suspicious package turned out to be empty.

The package was spotted about 8:15 a.m. when employees at Petco in the Target Shopping Center, 30682 Santa Margarita Parkway, noticed a box in front of the store. The package was bound with red ribbon, and the word “boom” was written across it. “We all were concerned,” said Lt. Rich Paddock, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, whose deputies were summoned.

Petco employees were evacuated while the Sheriff’s Department bomb squad X-rayed the box. After about 90 minutes, they determined that it was empty, Paddock said. “It was an area where there was very little traffic,” he said. “Quite honestly, it didn’t inconvenience very many people.”