Diamond Jamboree, Irvine's Asian-centric megaplaza, was evacuated on Saturday afternoon after a bomb threat was called into the police department.
Lt. Julia Engen said that around 2:45 p.m., someone reported the threat and gave the address of 85°C Bakery Café, the always-packed Taiwanese bakery. Police arrived on the scene and evacuated the entire shopping center, which houses more than 40 restaurants and shops.
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Officers escorted a bakery manager through a complete search of the premises, and found nothing, Engen said. The ordeal lasted about an hour and customers were let back in by 4 p.m.
“It was just a false alarm,” said another 85°C manager, who wished to remain anonymous. “It all happened pretty fast. Police were in and out.”
A couple perplexed customers live-tweeted the incident:
napshots from a friend of mine, who watched it all go down.
It's still unknown why the call was made. Maybe someone really didn't want to wait in line for those glorious squid ink buns.
