{"id":67243,"date":"2015-10-15T21:17:56","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T04:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=67243"},"modified":"2015-10-18T14:14:16","modified_gmt":"2015-10-18T21:14:16","slug":"bomb-squad-called-after-lancaster-traffic-stop-2-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2015\/10\/15\/bomb-squad-called-after-lancaster-traffic-stop-2-arrested\/","title":{"rendered":"Bomb squad called after Lancaster traffic stop, 2 arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"As<\/a>
As a precaution, three duplexes on the 45300 block of 10th Street West were evacuated. sheriff’s officials said. [photo by LUIS MEZA]<\/figcaption><\/figure>LANCASTER \u2013 Homes were evacuated and 10th<\/sup> Street West, between Avenues H-12 and H-14, was blocked off for more than two hours Thursday afternoon after deputies found possible explosive devices inside a vehicle.<\/p>\n

Vernon Smith<\/strong>, 52, and Thomas Allen<\/strong>, 39, were arrested around 2 p.m. in connection with the incident, which began as a traffic stop on 10th<\/sup> Street West near Avenue H-12 in Lancaster, sheriff\u2019s officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeputies conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle, [a] tan Altima\u2026 for a traffic violation. During the traffic stop, one of the occupants exited the vehicle and was briskly walking away from the vehicle,\u201d said Sgt. Chris Bergo of the Lancaster Sheriff\u2019s Station.<\/p>\n

\"[LUIS<\/a>
[LUIS MEZA]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cBoth the driver and the passenger were detained. The passenger had a parole warrant for his arrest,\u201d Bergo added.<\/p>\n

When deputies searched the vehicle, they found methamphetamine and a suspicious device, according to Bergo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe device was deemed to be some kind of explosive device,\u201d Bergo said. \u201cThey blocked the street off, evacuated a few homes, and the bomb squad subsequently responded.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a precaution, three duplexes on the 45300 block of 10th Street West were evacuated while deputies waited for the sheriff\u2019s Arson\/Explosives Detail to respond, according to Lt. Fender of the Lancaster Sheriff\u2019s Station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe devices were explosive in that they were gunpowder and gasoline, both flammable products,\u201d Fender said. \u201cThe bomb squad came out and detonated them to be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith was arrested for illegal possession of explosives and jailed in lieu of $20,000 bail, while Allen was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and booked on $1,000 bail, according to LASD inmate records. Both men are believed to have ties to white supremacy groups in the Antelope Valley, deputies at the scene said.<\/p>\n

The incident ended around 5:30 p.m., and residents were allowed back into their homes.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 Homes were evacuated and 10th Street West, between Avenues H-12 and H-14, was blocked off for more than two hours Thursday afternoon after deputies found possible explosive devices inside a vehicle. Vernon Smith, 52, and Thomas Allen, 39, were arrested around 2 p.m. in connection with the incident, which began as a traffic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":67244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[719,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67243"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}