Apparent pipe bomb spotted in Tustin, condominiums evacuated

Orange County sheriff’s deputies responding to a report of an explosion at a condominium near Tustin spotted a potential explosive device today, prompting evacuations of nearby condominiums.

Deputies were called just before 9 a.m. Wednesday to the residence in the 12700 block of Newport Avenue, according to Carrie Braun of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. When deputies got to the home, a man who lived there admitted there was a “loud explosion, but he wasn’t being very forthcoming with deputies,” Braun said.

The deputies saw that a terra cotta chimney-like object had been blown apart in the 38-year-old man’s yard, with a piece of shrapnel landing in a neighbor’s yard, Braun said. They also spotted what appeared to be a pipe bomb.

Deputies evacuated residents of four neighboring condominiums, Braun said. Newport Avenue was closed from Wass Street to Warren Avenue.

Deputies disassembled the pipe bomb in the condo just after 4 p.m. and were collecting a large amount of bomb-making materials in the residence, Braun said.

The suspect had not yet been booked.