Explosive Device Not Found on Maricopa-area Farm

Deputies failed to find anything suspicious after a bomb threat was called into a Paramount Farms production building on Highway 43 near Maricopa.

Sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt says several nearby substations responded just after 11 a.m. Tuesday to sweep the 1 million sq. ft. facility.

“We had deputies from our Wasco substation, our Buttonwillow substation, and we also had to send deputies from our Lamont substation,” Pruitt said.

He says the threat was received by a worker at the farm, who forwarded the information to a supervisor.

“The caller indicated that an explosive device had been placed somewhere on the grounds of the production facility, then hung up.

The search finished by 5 p.m.

It’s not known who made the call. Pruitt on Tuesday wasn’t sure if investigators were going to trace it.

– Anthony Pollreisz