On Monday, October 9, a bomb threat from a man who climbed the Ferris wheel at Pacific Park on Santa Monica Pier resulted in his arrest following hour-long negotiations with the police. The suspect, 37-year-old Juan Gonzalez of Garden Grove, did not have any explosive devices, stated the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD).
It began around 2:35 pm, when SMPD got a call about Gonzalez who had scaled the ferris wheel. A witness told officers Gonzalez had claimed to have a bomb in his backpack. He was located two-thirds up the ferris wheel with about ten riders on board who had to be rescued by the Santa Monica Fire Department (SMFD), reported KTLA.
SMPD's Crisis Negotiation Team made contact with Gonzalez to attempt to convince him to descend to the pier deck, during which Gonzalez kept making bomb threats to the officers, according to ABC7.
After more than an hour of negotiations, Gonzalez finally descended far enough to be taken into custody safely. He was subsequently evaluated by emergency services and then booked into the Santa Monica Jail. Charges against him include criminal threats (a felony), making a false bomb threat to authorities, and resisting arrest, according to SMPD.
The successful resolution of this incident was made possible through the coordination among the Santa Monica Police Department, Santa Monica Fire Department, Santa Monica's Office of Emergency Management, and Pacific Park's security personnel.
The potential emergency remained a controlled incident without causing any harm to bystanders, as highlighted by KTLA.
