"Regret" At Ads That Sparked Bomb Scare

2 People Arrested; Turner Broadcasting "Regrets" Scare Caused By Devices It Says Aren't Dangerous

(CBS/AP)  Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots threw a scare into Boston Wednesday, briefly disrupting traffic and subway service, in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable television cartoon. Most of the devices depict a character making an obscene gesture.

Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, were each arrested Wednesday night on one felony charge of placing a hoax device and one charge of disorderly conduct, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said.

In a news release announcing Stevens' arrest, she said the men worked together to place the devices. At an earlier news conference she said Berdovsky had been hired to place the devices.

Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were sent in Wednesday before authorities declared the devices were harmless.

"It's a hoax — and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick, who said he'll speak to the state's attorney general "about what recourse we may have."

Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, later said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

"The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement, issued a few hours after reports of the first devices came in.

It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said.

Complicating all of this, adds CBS News correspondent Bob Orr, is a separate bomb scare that happened earlier Wednesday at the Medical Center in Boston. Officials say a disgruntled employee is suspected of planting a phony pipe-bomb. It was not a real explosive.

The marketing company responsible for the campaign, Interference Inc., had no immediate comment. A woman who answered the phone at the New York-based firm's offices on Wednesday afternoon said the firm's CEO was out of town and would not be able to comment until Thursday.

There were no reports from police Wednesday of residents in the other nine cities spotting similar devices.

Authorities are investigating whether Turner and any other companies should be criminally charged, Coakley said. It wasn't immediately clear Wednesday who might have hired Berdovsky.

“We're not going to let this go without looking at the further roots of how this happened to cause the panic in this city,” Coakley said at a news conference Wednesday night.

Those conducting the campaign should have known the devices could cause panic because they were placed in sensitive areas, she said. Turner did not notify officials of the publicity campaign until around 5 p.m., nearly four hours after the first calls came in about the devices, she and others said.

At least 14 of the devices were found, Coakley said.

"Hoaxes are a tremendous burden on local law enforcement and counter-terrorism resources and there's absolutely no place for them in a post-9/11 world," Knocke said.

Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires hanging from them.

The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate 93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.

Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.

The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a structure beneath the span, authorities said.

Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well. A similar device was found Wednesday evening just north of Fenway Park, police spokesman Eddy Chrispin said.

Wanda Higgins, a 47-year-old Weymouth resident and a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, heard about the threat as she watched television news coverage while preparing to leave work at 4 p.m.

"I saw the bomb squad guys carrying a paper bag with their bare hands," Higgins said. "I knew it couldn't be too serious."

Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists.

[bigd472007]

I am sure that anyone that is going to build a bomb, isn't going to make it look like a "Light Brite" toy. Use your heads people. America, the land of the paranoid...land of the used to be free...As a former member of a military EOD team, you would have to be an absolute idiot to believe that these were any type of explosive device

[nikkidemas]

If promotional electronic signs warrant a felony charge, is CBS' recent campaign bioterrorism? Check out this photo:

http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060719/060719_cbseggs_vmed_830a.widec.jpg

I understand that the "sensitive areas" and a separate bomb scare caused the panic, but I do NOT agree with the punishment.

[xx00xx-2009]

this town needs a good therapist.

[swcx]

the middle finger is not offensive. seriously be an adult. the sign didn't say "i f'd your mother last night and she was terrible". and even then that would be funny too. there are many dire and distressing signs of decline in american culture, but the middle finger is not one of them.

[jax3ee]

I think someone left the receipt in the bag on that one!

[hunterczo]

I think its stupid that these guys put a damned light bright on the streets and they're going to take the hit cause some *** thinks its a wmd.

[jax3ee]

I like to ride bikes.

[luvny-2009]

More EVIDENCE of the STUPIDITY of CATHOLIC EDUCATION!

Posted by george2221 at 07:17 AM : Feb 01, 2007

WHAT ARE YOU SNIFFING

[getserious1]

1. No problem with response of Bomb squad, better an over reaction to a non-event than an under reaction to a real event.....

2. BIG problem with charging someone with a felony! I think it is obvious that this was not intended as a bomb scare.

3. Fine the network that paid for and approved (assumption) the signs for the costs of the 'emergency' they invoked.

Problem solved.

Oh! And have the Libs find a way to blame Bush....

[dredre2k]

I'm glad that the two men are being charged.
They should also fine the Cartoon Network; this is an example of advertising gone over-the-top.

Marketers are pushing the envelope of their advertising practices just to get their products noticed; and it's clear that someone hoped to place "mysterious" devices around the city in order to generate a buzz for the movie they were trying to push. Now, cartoon movie that might have been overlooked, was now the reason an american city was shut down... come see it! Desperate advertisers will only get worse in the future.

Personally, i'd like to see the HEAD-ON commercial people set off a security scare just so they can be locked up!

[nishaboston]

This actually caused a bomb scare. Oh give me a freaking break!!!!!!!

[wsamuel]

There are really 2 major problems with what these jerks did:

1. Put electronic devices in security sensitive areas without even bothering to notify publc safety officials. This is what they might wind up in court about. Certainly they should be required to pay all costs associated with their irresponsible actions. This should include not only the costs of public officials, but compensation to all individuals and businesses who were significantly impacted by the closures called for security reasons.

2. Putting signs giving the finger in public locations is in extremely bad taste. This shows the loss of any sense of decency and propriety in much of the entertainment industry and the advertising industry. This should probably not be a legal issue, but it is appropriate for decent people to respond by such means as boycotting sleazeball networks and their advertisers.

If Turner Broadcasting and Cartoon Network let these guys hang for this, it will be the last time I support them in anything. I will be watching to see how this gets handled.

[nuffera]

Looks like the original "Lite-Brite" game to me.
Are we a country of absolute morons or what? We spent tax payer money tracking down the "persons of interest" for this ridiculous ***? We are a nation of knuckle dragging morons!

[fryedbread]

The only thing worse than making an embarrassing *** of yourself is to drag it out after you realize what's going on. This should have been dropped like a rock. The fact that they are making arrests and charging people with FELONIES over this is ridiculous. Amazing.

[johnshaft4]

I am surprised that trigger happy war mongers Bush/Cheney didn't seize the moment and say that it was proof positive of evil doer state sponsored Iranian terrorists planting WMD's in his Nazi Fatherland. By the time the B2's drop their bombs on Iran...too late/game over..."Oops...Never mind..."

[jw218389]

Have we gotten THIS SAD?!

City leaders are going to CREATE a new felon by prosecuting some guy for leaving homemade Lite Brights all around the city??

We mobilized troops for homemade light brights???!!

There should be an INVESTIGATION INTO THE CITY LEADERS that WASTED OUT TAXPAYER MONEY chasing down some advertiser.

"Very sinister?" They look like lights to me even in the picture.

THIS IS SAD!!!!!!!

[mcmlxxvad]

Ok here it is from the local paper; (the picture above is the back of the device)

in the daylight the lights were off and thus not visible. The device just looked like a plain black box with batteries and wires coming out the bottom. When one was found in a dark place the figure was lit up, they saw what it was and the whole thing was over.

I agree they should have done a better job of taking a closer look at the first ones.

[mcmlxxvad]

So let me get this straight, these things were hanging up on a wall blinking, not in a bag? initial reports said the devices were in a bag.

[bildooreilly]

It wasn't a hoax it was a freakin light up LED Magnetic sign... if you think that looks like a bomb you're so stupid I'm surprised you're still alive anyways, all these jackasses claiming this is a hoax need to resign immediately.