Nightclub Anthrax Threat Proves to Be Another Hoax

POMONA — No trace of anthrax was found in a nightclub where about 800 people were quarantined for four hours after authorities received a telephone call from a man threatening to release the deadly bacterium into the air, investigators said Monday.

The incident at the Glass House nightclub Saturday was the seventh such hoax this month in Southern California involving a threat of anthrax spores, which can cause respiratory failure and even death if left untreated.

It started at 11:50 p.m., when an unidentified man called police and said a “significant quantity” of anthrax would be released into the air, said Lt. Gary Graham.

Patrons were kept in the club for about four hours while investigators from the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s hazardous-materials team and the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Task Force checked the air-conditioning system, vents and filters, Graham said.

“The tests came back negative,” county fire spokesman Mark Whaling said Monday. “It was a hoax.”

Authorities have not found a connection between the threat and six others in recent weeks that have left fire departments and health agencies scrambling to deal with a potential biological disaster:

* On Christmas Eve, about 200 people at a Mervyn’s store in Palm Desert had to disrobe for decontamination and were rinsed with a bleach solution after a telephoned anthrax threat.

* On Dec. 23, about 200 people were evacuated from the Chatsworth office of Time-Warner Cable after a telephone threat.

* On Dec. 21, about 1,500 people were evacuated from two Van Nuys courthouses and quarantined for several hours because of a telephone threat.

* On Dec. 18, about 90 people at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Woodland Hills underwent antibiotic treatment after a telephone threat.

* On Dec. 17, an office building in Westwood received a letter threatening exposure to anthrax.

* On Dec. 14, the Perris School District in Riverside County received a letter that read, “You’ve been exposed to anthrax.”