Bomb scare turns out to be gopher gas

After an investigation by Laguna Beach police and the Orange

County Bomb Squad, four suspected explosive devices turned in by a

local business owner turned out to be “gopher gassers.”

A business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, contacted the

Laguna Beach Police Department at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when she

discovered two pellet guns and two dangerous looking items that

belonged to her former employee.

“She fired the employee and later found the property,” Sgt. Darrin

Lenyi said. “She also said that he made a threat over the phone.”

The business owner brought the items to the police department

where they removed them from her car. After examining the devices,

police called the Orange County Bomb Squad to investigate two

pyrotechnic tubes, said Jim Amormino, spokesperson for the Orange

County Sheriff’s Department.

The police and squad also searched the business, where they found

two more explosive devices and a double-ended homemade spike, Lenyi

confirmed.

The Bomb Squad examined the devices and confirmed they were gopher

gassers.

-- Mary A. Castillo