Part of Gayley Avenue was shut down Monday night after an unknown man dropped off a suspicious package at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on the corner of Weyburn and Gayley avenues, according to Los Angeles Police Department officials.
All of the customers at the coffee shop were evacuated from around 7:35 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., said Annaliza Burnacod, a Coffee Bean employee.
Burnacod said a man came into the shop before 7:35 p.m. and gave the package, about half the size of a manila envelope, to a table of customers, who said they thought they could hear it ticking.
She said the customers called the police, who responded and also brought a bomb squad and the fire department.
“Everyone was surprised,” she said. “We didn’t think it was an actual bomb, but then the police came and yelled “˜Evacuate now,’ so we ran out.”
Lety Chaure, an LAPD bomb squad official, said it was that force that responded to the call.
None of the officers on duty Monday night were available for comment.
Burnacod said the squad “blew up” the package at around 9:15 p.m.
David Yáñez, a fifth-year philosophy student, was driving past the blocked-off street around 9 p.m.
“Pretty much from Lindbrook on (the street) was shut down, with cop cars with their lights on in the middle of the street,” he said.
Yáñez said he and his friends, wondering what was going on, tried to speak to a firefighter near Veteran Avenue.
“(The firefighter) said “˜It’s controlled and it’s been taken care of,’ and didn’t give any more information,” Yáñez said.
He said he and his friends believed it may have been a bomb threat, but were not sure.
Burnacod said she did not get a good look at the man who dropped off the package.
“He was long gone before they told me what was going on,” she said.
She added that this is the first time this has happened since she has worked for the Coffee Bean, and she does not know of any previous instances of this happening.