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Package Probe Halts Metro Gold Line Service In Downtown LA

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A bomb squad robot safely removed what may have been a replica grenade found hanging in a tree along the Metro Gold Line tracks in Little Tokyo.

Authorities interrupted service to the Little Tokyo station and stopped traffic from coming into the area while a bomb squad and robot worked to remove it, police said.

The package was found by an ex-Marine who was walking near First and Alameda streets, CBS2/KCAL9's Dave Lopez reported.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority website said the package is in a tree.

The MTA is using buses to ferry passengers around the blocked section of line, which runs from Pasadena to East Los Angeles.

The bomb squad response was the second of the day downtown. Law enforcement officials happened to be pleased with the extra vigilance of citizens, who they exhorted to report anything unusual in the wake of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Another scare was reported later that closed the northbound lanes of the Sepulveda tunnel, which passes under the runways at Los Angeles International Airport, because of a man arrested with a suspicious device.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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