KPCC studio and other businesses evacuated in Pasadena after suspicious package is found

Public radio station KPCC’s headquarters and nearby businesses in Pasadena were evacuated Monday night as authorities investigated a suspicious device found beneath a U-Haul truck.

Several businesses, including the headquarters for KPCC and the website LAist, were evacuated near Raymond Avenue and California Boulevard, as was a local homeless shelter.

Authorities detonated a cylindrical object, between 6 and 8 inches long, that was attached to a truck parked on the street, interim Pasadena Police Chief John Perez told reporters. The item, which had taping and wiring on it, probably wasn’t a real explosive device but was made to look like one, he said.

“Chances are it was not a device because we didn’t hear a loud explosion,� Perez said after it was detonated.

“It looks like a real device,� he added.

Just before 9 p.m., Perez told reporters that authorities had secured the device and were going to detonate it. He said people in the area should be “prepared to hear a loud explosion.�

Police received a call about a suspicious package about 6 p.m. Monday, Perez said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we decided, looking at the device, not knowing if it was explosive, to evacuate the immediate area,� he said.

The truck was unoccupied, Perez said. Authorities interviewed employees of a U-Haul rental facility on Raymond Avenue, he said. Police planned to search the facility and were looking at security camera footage from nearby businesses.

Pasadena police and firefighters were joined on the scene by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s bomb squad and federal authorities.

[email protected]

Twitter: @haileybranson

UPDATES:

10:10 p.m.: This story was updated with the detonation of the object.

This story was originally published at 9:30 p.m.