South Coast Plaza has hectic day

Lolita Harper

It was a tough day at South Coast Plaza Tuesday for people who,

within the course of five hours, collectively endured an evacuation

because of a suspicious package and a jewelry heist, police said.

At about 12:45 p.m. a merchant reported a suspicious package in

the wing between Jewel and Carousel courts, a portion of the mall

that houses Guess, the Apple Store and the Coach store, among others,

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Zack Hoferitza said.

The merchant, whose name was not disclosed, saw the common

shipping box, secured with tape but no labels, and immediately

reported it to mall security, Hoferitza said. Because of the lack of

labels and its proximity to the coffee shop on the second floor,

plaza officials called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which

sent its bomb squad.

Officials evacuated the wing for three hours, while the bomb robot

examined the package, Hoferitza said, turning it over to find a label

on the bottom.

“It was later determined that the package contained an outgoing

shipment of sweaters and the package had fallen off a cart earlier in

the day,” he said.

Mall officials were most likely still cautious from recent reports

of possible terror attacks at California malls, Hoferitza said.

“We still encourage our citizens to stay on alert and notify us of

any suspicious packages,” he said.

Just when things started to calm down in the luxury shopping

plaza, an unidentified man snatched four Omega watches from Weisfield

Jewelers, police said. The jewelry store is on the Sears side of the

Carousel Court, upstairs.

Hoferitza called it a “grab and run,” as the thief snatched the

four watches -- valued at $11,680 total -- and ran out the door at

about 5:45 p.m. The suspect was a male Hispanic, between 25 and 35,

about 6-feet tall, wearing a hat, dark shirt and jeans, Hoferitza

said.