Scare closes airport entrance, delays flight
A bomb scare Saturday morning at Bob Hope Airport resulted in one delayed flight and the closure of a main entrance, airport officials said.
At 10:55 a.m., airport police discovered an unattended object left in the doorway of Building 9, an office building next to the Terminal A baggage area.
“[Airport police] determined the possibility that the object had some explosive device connected to it,” airport spokesman Victor Gill said. “The [Los Angeles] County Bomb Squad arrived within a half-hour and determined there was no explosive device.”
Terminal A was not closed, but the Avenue A airport entrance, off Hollywood Way and Thornton Avenue, was closed for an hour, as was the area where the object was discovered — the sidewalk that serves as an alternate entrance to the terminal, Gill said.
One departing aircraft was delayed 15 minutes to allow its passengers impeded by the closure to catch the plane, he said.
“Things were back to normal an hour later,” Gill said.
Business robbery leaves one injured
A robbery Monday at a business on the 3300 block of West Victory Boulevard left one victim injured and two suspects at large, Burbank Police said Tuesday.
Ken Frechman, the 55-year-old owner of Estate Coins, was in his office at about 3 p.m. when a man carrying a handgun entered his office, Sgt. Travis Irving said.
Frechman fought with the man for control of the gun, tumbling into the hallway and into another room of the business when a second man entered the room with a gun.
The second man choked Frechman until the business owner gave up, at which point the two robbers left him and closed the door, Irving said.
When Frechman returned to his office, he found that his briefcase containing an undisclosed amount of cash and business papers was missing.
No arrests were made, and Frechman was not hospitalized, Irving said.
The investigation is ongoing.
Sentencing delayed in manslaughter case
The sentencing hearing for Hilda Voskanian, who was found guilty of manslaughter in November for pushing Pedro Dorado, a Burbank parking lot attendant who later died from a head injury, was delayed for at least another week Tuesday.
Burbank Superior Court Judge John P. Doyle set Jan. 16 as the new date for the hearing to allow the prosecution and defense to cull necessary papers and allow the court enough time to consider a motion introduced by Voskanian.
Jim Epstein, Voskanian’s attorney, filed a motion contending that the manslaughter charge is too severe.
But Doyle did not receive the motion in time for Tuesday’s hearing, and Assistant Dist. Atty. Ana Lopez did not have enough time to prepare a rebuttal to Epstein’s argument, having just received the motion Monday, she said.
Doyle preferred to delay the hearing to ensure both sides were prepared.
“I would rather come back in January or February .?.?. so we don’t have another false start,” he said.
The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Department G at Burbank Superior Court.
