Southern California

Rubber Tube Connected to Natural Gas Found Rigged Into Garden Grove Building

"Obviously, somebody's sending a message, but it wasn't a really well planned out bomb device."

When the Garden Grove Police Department was called out to investigate a natural gas leak, no one could have predicted officers would find an intentionally-broken gas line with a two-inch rubber hose attached to it that was fed into a roof vent into a management office Wednesday.

"I got less than 30 seconds to get out of the building," said Don Chu.

Southern California Gas Company arrived after complaints from employees saying they smelled gas inside the building located at 7281 Eagle Drive. 

SoCal Gas found the intentionally broken gas line, and police were called in.

The Orange County Sheriff's bomb squad responded, as natural gas is very explosive, but the building was deemed safe. 

The hose, about 30 feet long, was found fed directly into a management office at the Cushman & Wakefield property management building.

"Natural gas is very explosive," so the perpetrator may have hoped someone would spark it with a lighter or in some other fashion, Lt. Bob Bogue said.

"Obviously, somebody's sending a message, but it wasn't a really well planned out bomb device," Bogue said.

Officials said no explosive devices were found in the building.

It's also a mystery how the rubber hose was run up to the roof, Bogue said.

A ladder leading to the roof was locked when police arrived, Bogue said.

There were no suspects Wednesday evening. 

City News Service contributed to this report.

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