Explosive Device Disarmed Near OC Park

Anaheim - An explosive device capable of causing "substantial damage" was found today near Yorba Regional Park, prompting authorities to evacuate about a dozen homes and shut down La Palma Avenue for several hours.

Anaheim police were called about the suspicious device at La Palma Avenue and North Potomac Circle at 2:45 p.m., Sgt. Rick Martinez said. The device had been there for hours before someone called police, he added.

Someone put a substantial amount of explosive powder in a five-gallon water jug, sealed it off with tape and put a fuse in it, Martinez said. The fuse was lit at some point, but it did not detonate, he said.

Investigators suspect it was the work of one or more pranksters.

The Orange County bomb squad detonated a portion of the device without setting off the powder so they could render the explosive inert, Martinez said.

As the bomb squad did its work, police got residents of a dozen homes a safe distance away and shut down La Palma to all traffic until 5 p.m., the sergeant said.