Suspicious Device Discovered in Encino Determined to Be Harmless

A phony explosive device found on top of a car shut down a stretch of Ventura Boulevard and several nearby blocks in Encino Tuesday night, police said.

The device, which was accompanied by a threatening message written or painted onto the car, was located about 6:15 p.m. near the intersection of Newcastle Avenue and Santa Rita Avenue, just south of Ventura Boulevard, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Karen Rayner.

Police evacuated residents in a four-block area around the investigation site, Rayner said. Around 10:35 p.m., a bomb squad using a robotic device determined the device, which was constructed to look like an explosive device, was fake, according to Rayner.

Police were investigating whether the threat was intended to frighten its target or intended as a joke, Rayner said. ``It was a specific threat at an individual,'' Rayner said, declining to elaborate.

–City News Service