A busy San Diego highway was shut down and snarled traffic for Thanksgiving day travelers Thursday after a brother decided to play a joke on his sister by calling to tell her there was a bomb in her car.
From NBC San Diego:
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.
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.
You can pretty much guess at least some of what happened next.
Officials with the California Highway Patrol shut down the highway and a bomb squad was called to the scene, all of that snarling traffic for a couple of hours on Thanksgiving day.
Authorities questioned the woman as they investigated, but things took a turn when she got another phone call while authorities were there. That call was from her brother, who was calling to apologize for the “joke.”
CHP officials said the woman started crying and seemed genuinely surprised that the earlier unknown caller had actually been her brother, so they were inclined to believe her, according to NBC San Diego.
Though the brother was reportedly apologetic when he came to the scene for questioning, he was promptly arrested. His fate apparently rests with the City Attorney or District Attorney, reports NBC San Diego.
The remainder of the holiday season this year should be interesting for these siblings.
(Featured image credit: NBC San Diego video)
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