Fashion District Buildings Evacuated During Bomb Scare
Business and traffic was disrupted for about 1 1/2 hours in the Los Angeles Fashion District on the morning of Jan. 5, when police were alerted to a suspicious duffle bag left abandoned in the 800 block of Los Angeles Street.
The unattended bag turned out to be nondangerous— it held only clothes—but it forced the evacuation of The New Mart, the Cooper Design Space and portions of the California Market Center and the Gerry Building between 9:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The Department of Transportation also blocked off traffic near Ninth and Main streets.
Fearing the bag might contain an explosive device, police called in the bomb squad. When the bag was determined to be nonthreatening, police gave the okay for workers to return to their buildings. Police said the incident occurred during an elevated security alert from the Department of Homeland Security, which warned that there was a “significant risk of terrorist attacks.”
Ethan Eller, general manager of The New Mart, said the evacuation went smoothly for tenants. “It helped that we conducted our annual fire drill only a few weeks earlier, so everyone knew where to go,” he said.
—Robert McAllister
