Bomb Unit Called to Social Security Office; Briefcase Later Deemed Harmless

The discovery of a briefcase at a Social Security Administration office in La Mesa Wednesday morning prompted a roughly two-hour road closure while a bomb squad determined that the item was harmless.

Federal personnel found the object at the facility in the 8000 block of University Avenue about 7:30 a.m. They did not recognize it and had not seen it there following their shifts the previous evening, sheriff's Detective John Rutledge said.

A sheriff's explosives team was dispatched, and officers blocked off a stretch of eastbound lanes on La Mesa Boulevard as a precaution, according to police Capt. Dan Willis.

The bomb squad determined that there was no threat and gave an all-clear around 9:45 a.m., Willis said.

–City News Service