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... Victor Diaz!
A prank phone call between a brother and sister involving a bomb hoax led officials to block traffic in both directions on San Diego's busy Interstate 15 on Thanksgiving afternoon.
The freeway shutdown began around 2:45 p.m. at northbound and southbound I-15 near Miramar Way.
Lt. Lorenzo Ruano with the California Highway Patrol said a woman was driving on the freeway with a friend when she received a phone call from an unknown person, whose voice she did not recognize. The person on the other end told the woman there was a bomb in her car.
Frightened, Lt. Ruano said the woman immediately pulled over by the center divide on northbound I-15, just south of the Miramar Way overpass, and called 911.
Authorities from multiple agencies, including the San Diego Fire-Rescue Bomb Squad, responded to the scene.
CHP officials immediately shut down the freeway in both directions. At one point, all southbound I-15 traffic was being diverted to Miramar Way westbound, while all northbound I-15 traffic was being diverted to State Route 52.
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During all of the chaos, the brother who called in the bomb hoax called his sister back to apologize for the joke. Lt. Ruano said CHP investigators were there when the woman received the call from her older brother.
The woman was crying, and Lt. Ruano said CHP officials felt her reaction was genuine, and she had no idea it was her brother who made that first bomb hoax call.
CHP officials had the woman's brother -- now identified as Victor Diaz, 28 -- come to the scene for questioning. Lt. Ruano said Diaz was very apologetic, but his remorse simply wouldn't cut it.
Most motorists stranded on the I-15 didn’t find the joke humorous, especially since many drivers were en route to their family Thanksgiving celebrations.
A prank phone call between a brother and sister involving a bomb hoax led officials to block traffic in both directions on San Diego's busy Interstate 15 on Thanksgiving afternoon.
The freeway shutdown began around 2:45 p.m. at northbound and southbound I-15 near Miramar Way.
Lt. Lorenzo Ruano with the California Highway Patrol said a woman was driving on the freeway with a friend when she received a phone call from an unknown person, whose voice she did not recognize. The person on the other end told the woman there was a bomb in her car.
Frightened, Lt. Ruano said the woman immediately pulled over by the center divide on northbound I-15, just south of the Miramar Way overpass, and called 911.
Authorities from multiple agencies, including the San Diego Fire-Rescue Bomb Squad, responded to the scene.
CHP officials immediately shut down the freeway in both directions. At one point, all southbound I-15 traffic was being diverted to Miramar Way westbound, while all northbound I-15 traffic was being diverted to State Route 52.
[....]
During all of the chaos, the brother who called in the bomb hoax called his sister back to apologize for the joke. Lt. Ruano said CHP investigators were there when the woman received the call from her older brother.
The woman was crying, and Lt. Ruano said CHP officials felt her reaction was genuine, and she had no idea it was her brother who made that first bomb hoax call.
CHP officials had the woman's brother -- now identified as Victor Diaz, 28 -- come to the scene for questioning. Lt. Ruano said Diaz was very apologetic, but his remorse simply wouldn't cut it.
Most motorists stranded on the I-15 didn’t find the joke humorous, especially since many drivers were en route to their family Thanksgiving celebrations.
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