A bomb squad was deployed Monday evening and a man was detained after a routine traffic stop in Santa Ana turned up what police confirmed to be a live hand grenade.
Detectives conducted a traffic stop in the area of First and Fairview Streets at 7:58 p.m. that would spark hours of careful assessment by the bomb squad, police said. When detectives asked if the driver had anything illegal in the car, he responded that he had a hand grenade in the car.
Detectives found what was confirmed to be a live grenade in the front passenger seat, said Cmdr. Matt Sorenson of the Santa Ana Police Department.
Police immediately set up a perimeter and called out the Orange County Sheriff Department’s bomb squad; the driver was detained pending further investigation, Sorenson said.
At about 10:10 p.m., the grenade was rendered safe. It was not immediately known why the grenade was in the car.