‘Stink Bomb’ in Times Lobby Prompts Evacuation of 1,000

A chemical device was detonated by the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad Wednesday afternoon after it was discovered in a lobby of the main office of the Los Angeles Times, prompting the evacuation of 1,000 of the newspaper’s employees for two hours.

The device was detonated at 2:25 p.m. by the bomb squad, which was summoned to examine a brightly colored gift bag left, partially obscured by some newspapers, on a bench in The Times’ lobby on Spring Street near 2nd Street.

No one was injured.

Detective Steve Spear of the Police Department’s criminal conspiracy section said Wednesday’s incident appeared to be linked to a series of smoke-bomb attacks in Orange County, including one Tuesday at the Santa Ana offices of the Orange County Register and one last week at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

Times security officials said a copy of a Register newspaper story about the incident in that newspaper was attached to the package found in The Times’ lobby. They added that they received a call from someone claiming to have left the device.

Spear said bomb-squad officers, while determining that the package was not capable of doing serious damage, decided to explode it in place because of uncertainty over the chemicals involved.

The device--described by Times security officials as a “stink bomb”--was discovered around 1 p.m. by a Times employee, Claudia Brennen, who said the device “was ticking really, really loud.” Times security officials were notified and they in turn called in the bomb squad and the Los Angeles Fire Department to investigate.