West Hollywood : ‘Hoax’ Bomb in Market

A device exploded by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after a bomb threat at a West Hollywood supermarket on Monday was a “hoax device,” a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.

Von’s supermarket at 8969 Santa Monica Blvd. was evacuated for three hours after a man demanding an unspecified amount of money called the store about 7:30 p.m. and said a bomb was set to go off there.

After evacuating the store, authorities found a metal device in a gym bag inside the store that they said appeared to have a timing mechanism. The device was exploded in the store’s parking lot, Lt. Don Mauro said.

Santa Monica Boulevard between Robertson Boulevard and Doheny Drive was closed to traffic for almost three hours as a result of the incident, Mauro said.