O.C. Sheriff’s squad assists in bomb call

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department sent its bomb squad to Costa Mesa early Monday morning when city police received a call about a suspicious device on the Eastside.

Around 1:40 a.m., teams from the police and the Sheriff’s Department arrived at the corner of 19th Street and Orange Avenue after a resident called about a possible bomb threat, according to Lt. Hans Strand of the Sheriff’s Department. Officers found the remains of a large illegal firecracker, the explosion of which had damaged a nearby utility pole.

Strand said the incident was the only one of its kind in Newport-Mesa on New Year’s Eve.

Sgt. Bob Phillips of the Costa Mesa Police Department said he could find no mention of the incident in the night’s shift report and that the supervisors who were on duty at the time were out of the office on Monday.