THOUSAND OAKS : Bomb Squad Finds 2 Devices: 1 Is Real

A suspected bomb that forced the evacuation of a Thousand Oaks drugstore turned out to be a “realistic-looking fake,” but a pipe bomb found Friday while searching a Thousand Oaks house was the real thing, authorities said.

A man called Sav-on Drugs at 1382 N. Moorpark Road about 5:50 p.m. Thursday and told the manager that he had placed three bombs inside the store, according to sheriff’s deputies.

The caller then demanded that the manager take money out of the store’s safe, place it in a bag and throw the bag over a wall behind the store. He told the manager not to call police or he would detonate the bomb by remote control. He then gave the location of one of the devices.

The manager did not comply with the demands, but called sheriff’s deputies, who sent the county bomb squad to the scene.

Deputy Larry Bull, a member of the squad, said it took more than two hours to remove the device from the building with a robot. Deputies then took the device to a safe location where they determined that it contained no explosive materials.

“It looked like what you expect a device to look like,” Bull said. “I guess what you’d see in the movies.”

Further searches failed to reveal any other devices.

On Friday, the squad was again sent to Thousand Oaks to examine a pipe-bomb type device that law enforcement officials found while searching a house for stolen property. The device, which contained explosive material, was rendered harmless and will be used as evidence against a suspect, Timothy Sternburg, 24, who was arrested Friday. He faces charges of burglary, vandalism and possession of an explosive device.

Bull said the incident in the 3100 block of Radcliffe Road appeared unrelated to the drugstore threat.