Bomb Scare Clears Downtown Buildings

(Updated 8:20 p.m.) Hundreds of office workers, hotel guests, waiters, and downtown apartment-dwellers poured onto sidewalks, and rush-hour traffic was snarled, as emergency crews responded to a bomb threat Monday afternoon.

An Omni operator received a call at 2:36 p.m. The caller stated, ​“There’s a bomb in your hotel,” according to Lt. Rebecca Sweeney (pictured at the scene Monday afternoon). Officials immediately cleared everyone out of the Omni, the restaurants across the street, and the Liberty apartment building at 152 Temple.

Sweeney said police found a ​“suspicious package” in the garage.

The department’s Hazardous Devices Unit showed up and performed a Rendered Package Safe procedure on the briefcase,” police spokesman Joe Avery later reported. ​“They concluded that the briefcase was not an explosive device. A thorough sweep of the premises was conducted by technicians and three K‑9 units, which produced negative results for the presence of an explosive device.”

Around 7 p.m. police gave the all-clear. Employees and guests returned into the hotel. Temple Street was reopened to traffic.

About 30 employees and 35 guests were inside the hotel at the time of the afternoon threat, according to Omni General Manager Leo Chandler (pictured). It was a slow day for the Omni; no conventions were scheduled. And the threat came in at a time of day when last night’s guests had departed and many of the next night’s guests hadn’t yet arrived, Chandler said. He said the Omni expected to be up to a third full Monday night, with around 100 guests.

The Shubert theater opened its doors to Chandler and the rest of the Omni crew during the evacuation (much as it did during a bomb scare last week at Co-op High). The Omni visitors were treated to non-alcoholic refreshments upstairs in the lounge area of the Shubert balcony.

Mike Reichbart (pictured), for one, appreciated the hospitality. Reichbart, former owner of cafe nine, works as a bartender these days at Temple Grill. He was mixing drinks Monday afternoon at the restaurant and left the premises along with the rest of the crew at the restaurant. ​“They’ve been very cordial,” he said of the Shubert. Not that any of the refreshments served matched the pedigree of the espresso martinis he serves at Temple Grill, Reichbart added. He said he’d be happy to offer tips to the Shubert crew ​“in the same community spirit” with which the theater opened its doors to the community Monday afternoon.

A Yale grad student who lives at the Liberty apartments kept warm by the grates in the front lobby of the Shubert. She had just returned home from the library when alarms went off in the building. She scooped up Mr. Kitty, her 11-year-old cat, and headed outside.

Michael Solimini, an Omni guest, chose to stay outside on the steps of the Temple Street courtyard plaza. He was annoyed about the evacuation. Solimini, of East Haven, said he was staying at the Omni because of some personal issues at home. ​“I haven’t slept in days. I’m watching TV. I’m falling asleep,” when the alarms went off and he had to leave the building, he said.

“I’m not paying for the room!” he vowed.

At 4:30, police were still blocking off streets, and fire emergency crews showed up. Officers prepared to bring bomb-sniffing police dogs into the hotel to check out the threat. They were held back from duty until the ​“suspicious” package was deemed unthreatening.

Meanwhile, police ordered the 900 Chapel Street office and apartment building (the former mall) evacuated. Some of the tenants there also park their cars in the Omni garage. The tower’s tenants include the Chamber of Commerce and the New Haven Advocate. Workers poured onto the sidewalk, unsure when they’d be able to return to their offices or retrieve their cars.