Abandoned Briefcase Prompts Evacuation of Police Station

An abandoned briefcase caused the closure and evacuation of a Los Angeles Police Department station early today.

The LAPD's West Valley station in the 19000 block of Vanowen Street in Reseda was shut down around midnight, when the briefcase was discovered at the station's Vanowen entrance, LAPD Sgt. K. Ryan said.

Ryan said the 10 occupants of the station were evacuated for about two hours while the LAPD Bomb Squad examined the briefcase, which was ultimately found to contain an old laptop computer.

Ryan said the entrance was not video-monitored, and it was not known how the briefcase came to be left.

--City News Service