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Bomb squad investigators cordoned off a row of storefronts and
the front entrance of a hotel across the street after a man who
was driving recklessly in the area emerged from his car with the
propane cannister, according to police on the scene.
The man told police who stopped him that he also had two
canisters of nitrous oxide, a non-flammable gas also known as
laughing gas. He was taken into custody while the bomb squad was
called to investigate the situation, police said.
Bomb disposal technicians later detonated the items in question
as a precaution, one officer said. Police spokeswoman Jane Kim
said no explosives were found in the investigation.
The incident unfolded at about 11 a.m. local time about a block
away from the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue,
where the Dolby Theatre complex is located, and police were on
the scene for roughly five hours before the all-clear was given.
The area around the Dolby, site of the upcoming 87th annual
Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, had already been closed to
traffic in preparation for the film industry's highest honors.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by
Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)
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