2 Arrested In Boston Bomb Scare
Electronic Ads For A Late-Night Cartoon Placed On Bridges Called "A Hoax"
-
Play CBS Video
Video
Boston Alert A Hoax
The series of suspicious devices raising alert in Boston turned out to be an advertising campaign for Cartoon Network. Gov. Deval and Police Commissioner Davis addressed the media.
-
-
Photo
An electronic device removed from where it had been hanging beneath an overpass in Boston, Jan. 15, 2007. (AP)
-
Photo
Two members of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority police carry a bag of circuit board pieces after a suspicious package containing the boards was detonated by the Boston Bomb Squad near the Sullivan Square subway station, Jan. 31, 2007. (AP)
-
Photo
Peter Berdovsky is taken into custody by detectives as he leaves his Arlington, Mass., home on Newport Street Wednesday night Jan. 31, 2007. Berdovsky, 27, was arrested and charged with placing at least one of the suspicious illuminated hoax devices around Boston. (CBS)
-
-
Interactive
America On Guard
The Homeland Security Department, the terror alert system, preparedness quiz and more.
Most of the illuminated 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.
Berdovsky posted video on the Web of him placing the devices around Boston, reports The Early Show correspondent Joie Chen.
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.
The devices were planted in nine other cities, but with far less dramatic results, reports Chen.
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia all had the devices for the past few weeks.
"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.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



I heard on another news story that these "electronic devices" have actually been hanging up for around two weeks now but no one really noticed them. Kind of scary to think that if these were even close to something dangerous to the public, what could happen if they went unnoticed for more than a day.
I also agree with the constant use of the word "hoax". It's completely unneccesary. Like I said earlier, this isn't the first time this cartoon has been advertised in such a large scale way outside of the normal boundaries of marketing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doD_VpT_yAY
The devices were Lite-Brites with a cartoon character on it!
The next bomb scare will be cause by someone leaving a McDonald's bag in a trash can!