L.A. Police Detonate ‘Bomb’

A two-square-block area near downtown was evacuated for two hours today while the Los Angeles Police Department Bomb Squad investigated and finally detonated what turned out to be a “bush bank,” a foot-long metal pipe containing coins, authorities said.

“It appeared at the onset to be a very large pipe bomb,” Bomb Squad Detective David Weller said. “What we did was use a very small amount of explosives to open it. We placed a ballistic blanket around it so as not to break any windows in the area.’ A passer-by had spotted the pipe in in the bushes near a retaining wall at 1282 1st St. Residents of two nearby apartment buildings were allowed to return to their dwellings about 10 a.m., about 15 minutes after the detonation, police said.