Suspicious powder sent intentionally

Deepa Bharath

A suspicious substance that alarmed an office complex in Santa Ana

Heights on Saturday morning and turned out to be chalk was

intentionally mailed to someone in the building, fire officials said

Tuesday.

The powder came to its recipient in a greeting card “with

obscenities written on it,” said Jerry Strom, Newport Beach Fire

battalion chief.

The envelope, delivered to an office in the 20100 block of Birch

Street, caused a stir after the person it was addressed to saw the

powdery substance and called authorities.

“The powder was discolored because of the ink on the greeting

card,” Strom said. “The incident is under investigation because there

seems to have been some history between the sender and recipient of

the card.”

United States Postal Service officials as well as the FBI are

looking into the case, he said.

“It certainly seems like the sender of the envelope deliberately

put the powder in there to scare the other person,” Strom said.

The person who sent out the powder will face prosecution by

federal authorities if investigators confirm his or her motive, he

said.

Saturday’s was the third incident involving a suspicious substance

in Newport-Mesa in two weeks.

Nearly 60 people were evacuated from the Department of Motor

Vehicles building on West 19th Street in Costa Mesa after a clerk

opened mail containing a suspicious grainy substance. Officials later

found out that it was some type of packing material that was mailed

in with DMV renewal papers by accident.

Also, on Feb. 4, 80 employees were evacuated from the Fairview

Developmental Center in Costa Mesa after someone found a gray powdery

substance in envelopes. That powder turned out to be “sacred ash”

brought in by an employee who smeared it on her forehead as part of a

religious ritual.

Both those incidents happened days after a letter laced with ricin

powder, a poison, made its way to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s

office in the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 2.

The local incidents were most likely a coincidence, Strom said.

“But we’re taking all incidents seriously,” he said.

These incidents do put an enormous strain on the cities’

resources, officials said.

One such incident requires the presence of three or four fire

engines, paramedics, the Orange County Fire Authority’s Hazardous

Materials team, Orange County Health Agency officials, postal and

other federal investigators and the California Highway Patrol, which

deals with state-run facilities such as the DMV and the Fairview

Developmental Center.

“A call like this could cost, on an average, between $12,000 to

$15,000,” said Gregg Steward, Costa Mesa Fire deputy chief.

Usually, the building owners or the person responsible for the act

pays that expense, he said.

“Accidents do happen,” he said. “But, in this day and age, people

should be more cautious about what they send in the mail.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.