SAN FRANCISCO—A man was arrested Friday, March 17, for making a bomb threat directed at the Civic Center BART station.
The Civic Center Station was closed from 9:30 a.m. to 10:26 a.m. after the threat was made. BART police officers cleared the area on Market Street between Seventh and Eighth Streets with the help of the San Francisco Police Department.
Officers swept the station with dogs trained to smell explosive devices. Service was restored once it had been confirmed that there was no potential threat to public safety. BART kept the public informed throughout the incident through its Twitter account.
Authorities arrested 46-year-old Don John Stevens on suspicion of making the threat. He was caught near the station with the help of a witness who saw Stevens enter the station with an object. Stevens indicated he planted two bombs in the station and advised everybody to get out. Another witness corroborated the positive identification.
“On behalf of our riders and everyone at BART, we’d like to thank the witness who showed the initiative to report this,” said BART spokesman Jim Allison in a statement.
The incident caused delays on both BART and the Muni light rail service. Commuters were faced with residual delays that decreased over the course of the day.
