UPDATE: Deputies examine ‘suspicious package’ at bank, deem package safe

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Albert White sets up a police line outside a Wells Fargo on the 24400 block of Magic Mountain Parkway. Cory Rubin/The Signal
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A report of a suspicious package found inside a bank, across the street from the Westfield Valencia Town Center mall has prompted a precautionary response by local sheriff’s deputies.

A member of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Bomb Squad makes entry into a Wells Fargo on the 24400 block of Magic Mountain Parkway. Cory Rubin/The Signal

“As of now, it is an anonymous unsubstantiated report,” Sgt. Mike Pokorny said about 4:30 p.m..

By 5:45 p.m., deputies determined the package was not a threat and began clearing from the area.

For more than an hour, however, precautions were taken as if the threat was real.

Shortly before 4:30 p.m., deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station received a report from someone at the Wells Fargo bank on Magic Mountain Parkway, just east of McBean Parkway, about a suspicious package.

“The Arson and Explosives Detail (of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department) has not been called out,” he said. “Right now, the response is at a (sheriff) station level.”

A member of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Bomb Squad exits a Wells Fargo on the 24400 block of Magic Mountain Parkway. Cory Rubin/The Signal

About 4:45 p.m., deputies stopped all traffic around the bank, shutting down Magic Mountain Parkway, in both directions, between McBean and Auto Center Drive.

The bank was vacated and yellow tape stretched around its perimeter.

An off-duty bomb technician who happened to be in the area, suited up into his specialized gear and checked out the package, according to deputies at the scene.

A member of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Bomb Squad hold up four fingers indicating the scene is code 4 at a Wells Fargo on the 24400 block of Magic Mountain Parkway. Cory Rubin/The Signal

A final check of the bank was done with the help of the bank manager, they said.

The perimeter around the bank was removed and traffic on Magic Mountain restored.

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