CHP Closes I-5 In San Diego – Pipe Bomb Found In Backpack Detonated

UPDATED: Sheriff’s bomb-arson investigators detonated a pipe bomb that was found in a backpack on the side of Interstate 5 near La Jolla Village Drive on Friday.

The investigation caused a traffic nightmare as authorities closed the freeway in both directions for nearly four hours.

All lanes have since been re-opened, although traffic was still backed up for miles to the north and the south.

Late Friday afternoon, Oceanside police arrested 46-year-old Michael Buffalo, who told investigators he left the pipe bomb on the right shoulder of the southbound lanes on Tuesday, when his car broke down.

Authorities closed the freeway between Interstate 805 and state Route 52 about 12:30 p.m.

Southbound traffic was backed up to Carmel Valley Road while northbound traffic was backed up to Sea World Drive, with speeds as low as 1 mph.

Buffalo led officers and bomb squad deputies to the bomb and it was later detonated.

The investigation began Thursday, when Oceanside police received a tip that someone was threatening to set a bomb off at the Vista Courthouse, said Oceanside Sgt. Leonard Mata.

Officers were able to identify Buffalo as a suspect, and he volunteered to come into the police station for an interview.

That’s when he told them about the bomb on the side of the freeway, police said.

A search for more explosives in his Oceanside home on Dunes Place came up empty.

Buffalo is expected to be booked into jail on numerous charges.

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The California Highway Patrol ordered the closure of northbound and southbound Interstate 5, from Gilman Drive to Interstate 805 due to the discovery of a suspicious device.

The device was found on the side of the road near Nobel Drive, according to the CHP.

The Sheriff’s bomb arson team is at the scene and conducting an investigation.

Commuters traveling southbound on I-5 through the Interstate 805 merge will be diverted onto southbound I-805.

Northbound commuters will be diverted onto eastbound State Route 52, the CHP said.

According to authorities, a man was arrested by Oceanside police Wednesday and accused of having a pipe bomb.

The man told authorities that he had thrown a device out of a car on southbound I-5 at Gilman Drive, police said.

The man led Oceanside police to the area where he had thrown the device and officials found it on a hillside next to the freeway.

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