Irvine police officers investigating at a gas station after two men were seen in a car using a drug pipe got a surprise when they found a pipe bomb in the center console, prompting a response from a bomb squad Tuesday night, Sept. 23, authorities said.
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Irvine police were called to the Chevron gas station at the Orchard Hills Shopping Center near Portola Parkway and Culver Drive just before 6 p.m. after a passerby saw a drug pipe in the car, spokesman Officer Ziggy Azarcon said. Officers approached two men who were inside the car and took them into custody.
While searching the car, officers found the pipe bomb in the center console, Azarcon said. The car belonged to a family member of one of the men.
Irvine police called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s bomb squad, which determined the device was legitimate and rendered it safe, Azarcon said. It wasn’t immediately known specifically how the pipe bomb was rendered safe.
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The driver, a 56-year-old man from Simi Valley, would face a potential charge related to the pipe bomb, Azarcon said. The passenger, a 48-year-old Corona man, had an outstanding warrant in Riverside County.
Why the pipe bomb was in the car was not known, Azarcon said. Police had no information to suggest the men had a plan to use the pipe bomb.
“We’re glad that a community member saw something suspicious and gave us a call,” Azarcon said.
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