PG&E Evacuated after Bomb Threat

Santa Cruz Sheriff's Deputies are investigating a bomb threat made at 8:10 a.m. Thursday at the PG&E yard at 615 7th Ave.

As many as 60 employees were evacuated after a man called and threatened to set off a bomb and shoot people. No evidence of a bomb was found and people returned to work at 9:15 a.m.

Deputies said the call was made by a 50 to 60-year-old man from a phone booth on East Cliff Drive and the department is examining surveillance video of the man in an effort to identify the caller.

According to Sheriff's Sergeant Steve Carney, the bomb threat may have been related to the . Carney said that the caller mentioned SmartMeters, but could not confirm that any feelings regarding the situation fueled the bomb threat.

Scotts Valley resident Josh Hart, the director of Stop SmartMeters!, told Patch that his organization is completely against such actions.

"Stop SmartMeters! condemns any violence, whether it's threatened or actual, like the violence carried out by PG&E on the people of this area against their democratic will," he said. "I think it's deplorable that anyone would threaten people's lives like that. I also don't think it's surprising, given the way that PG&E is behaving. I think there are going to be people who are fed up. That doesn't mean it's right, but that's a fact of life when you attack people in their homes."