Dennis RomeroA former Port of Los Angeles mechanic was sentenced to house arrest after he admitted to punking his co-workers with a fake bomb.
John Edward Bearden says he did it to …
” … see how long it would take the mechanics to find,” according to a statement from the L.A. City Attorney's office today.
But it was a major disruption worth “$126,000 in deployed officers and resources,” the office says. In fact, it shut down terminals and prompted an evacuation at one of the world's largest ports, prosecutors said.
Bearden, 41, was sentenced to 150 days of house arrest and 36 months of summary probation, according to the City Attorney's office. He was ordered to stay away from facilities at Berth LA 301 on Terminal Island, too.
Credit: FBI
Prosecutors say he did the deed, putting a fake bomb complete with batteries and duct tape on a forklift, during a security drill at the port in June 2012. “This is for the drill,” a message attached to the device said.
A forklift operator discovered it, and all hell broke loose since it was wholly unexpected, prosecutors said.
A restitution hearing was scheduled for June 27.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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