Bomb squad called on dumped computer

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad has determined that a device found at a Huntington Beach gas station Saturday was harmless.

The item was identified as a computer tower with no explosive capabilities, according to Sgt. Randall Sterett, of the bomb squad.

“There’s nothing illegal with it,” he said. “It was just suspicious that a computer tower was placed next to a pump. It’s not something you would normally see.”

Around 4:35 p.m., local police were notified that an object was placed against a gas pump at the Chevron station at Beach Boulevard and Ellis Avenue by a person driving a box truck, Huntington Beach police Lt. John Domingo said. The driver left the scene immediately afterward.

Police called the Sheriff’s Department bomb squad and after an hourlong inspection, the device was deemed harmless, Sterett said.

Huntington Beach authorities are conducting an investigation to determine who the person is and why the object was left at the gas station.

—Anthony Clark Carpio