2nd Bomb Threat Empties County Offices

About 700 employees were evacuated from the San Diego County Administration Center on Thursday for the second successive day after bomb threats were phoned in by an anonymous caller.

After a two-hour search of the four-story building, police called the threat a hoax.

“This is the second call in two days,” San Diego Police Sgt. Tom Dechandt said. “We didn’t find anything, but we took the call very seriously.”

A search Wednesday also failed to turn up any bombs.

Police said a male called the center, 1600 Pacific Highway, about 12:30 p.m. and said bombs were scheduled to go off at different times. The first bomb was supposed to explode at 1:30 p.m.

About 20 police officers, sheriff’s deputies, county marshals and firefighters responded to the threat and began evacuating the administration building and the nearby County Health Services Building.

The administration building was cleared by 3:30 p.m, but it took another hour to search the health building.

The bomb disposal unit of the San Diego Fire Department and bomb-sniffing dogs from the Sheriff’s Deparment searched the buildings.

While the buildings were being searched, county workers were herded off to the parking lot at Ash Street and Pacific Highway. Other workers lounged in the afternoon sun or watched the proceedings from the waterfront on Pacific Highway. Some workers had been jogging during their lunch hour and were still dressed in running shorts and shoes as they waited to return to their offices.

Dechandt said police had no clue to the caller’s identity and were not sure whether he was the same man who called in two threats Wednesday.

According to county officials, the Wednesday caller spoke with a foreign accent and said he was an Iranian. He said eight bombs had been hidden in the Administration Center and would explode at 3 p.m.

Wednesday’s threats were received about 12:45 p.m., and the building was emptied about 2 p.m. Workers were allowed back inside at 3:30 to retrieve personal belongings before police conducted a second search.