Bomb scare at home of BART officer's family

By MARSHA DORGAN
Register Staff Writer

Residents of a southeast Napa neighborhood were evacuated from their homes Wednesday evening after the parents of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle found two unidentified packages on their front porch.

Mehserle, 27, was arrested in Nevada on Tuesday on a murder warrant. He was charged on Wednesday in the shooting of Oscar Grant, 22, on New Year’s Day.

The shooting has ignited racial tensions and public demonstrations in Oakland, with outraged citizens calling for Mehserle’s punishment. Grant, who is black, was one of several riders ordered off a BART train car at the Fruitvale station in Oakland following a brawl on the train car.

Police had Grant lying on the ground face down when Mehserle, who is white, allegedly pulled his service weapon and shot Grant in the back. Grant was unarmed.

Since the shooting, Mehserle and his family have received death threats.

Napa County Sheriff’s Capt. John Robertson said the family found the packages on their front porch. One was a medium-sized package and the other was smaller, he said.

“This raises our level of concern” for the safety of the family, Robertson said.

By 6:30 p.m., officers with the Napa County bomb squad had suited up and were X-raying the packages, Robertson said.

“We will look at them, and if the contents look unsafe or we can’t tell what exactly is inside the package we will (destroy) them,” Robertson said.

Shortly after 8 p.m., Robertson said, officers had scrutinized the packages and could not determine their contents. The packages were destroyed around 9 p.m., and the 50 or so residents who had been turned away from the neighborhood earlier in the evening were allowed to go home.

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