Highway 149 Closed After Suspected Bomb Threat On Butte County Bus
BUTTE COUNTY (CBS13) — A highway is back open after a suspected bomb threat closed lanes on Tuesday.
A B-Line bus sat on Highway 149 for more than two hours as California Highway Patrol officers assembled, scrambled and investigated. No one was harmed in the incident between Chico and Oroville.
Dozens of passengers and their families were relieved after the bomb threat on Tuesday evening.
At 4:02 p.m., the CHP got a tip about a bus traveling from Chico to Oroville on Highway 149.
"We received a call from the bus company saying that a silent alarm was tripped on the bus," said Chris Alves.
The CHP stopped the bus 12 minutes later and did a search.
"Upon making that stop, we were informed that there was a bomb threat," he said.
The highway was shut down for more than two hours as officers investigated.
College student Kael Heath was on the bus when two men got on the bus.
"They looked like they might have been homeless. And one of them was really belligerent," he said.
According to the CHP, one of the men told the drive he was going to blow up the bus.
"I could definitely see it in his face, that he was scared," Kael said.
He says the two men demanded that the driver take them to court, threatened him and then made jokes amongst themselves during the ride.
"I just figured that maybe these guys are crazy and they're just saying this because they're not in their right mind," Kael said.
CHP officers detained both of the men, and worked with Butte County Sheriff's Department to question all 40 passengers.
