The Latest: ‘Glorified firecracker’ thrown in restaurant

PASADENA, Calif. – The Latest on the investigation into an incendiary device that was tossed into a crowded Southern California restaurant (all times local):

1:20 p.m.

Police say a homemade incendiary device thrown into a crowded California restaurant was a “glorified firecracker” that wasn’t made to injure anyone.

Pasadena Police Lt. Vasken Gourdikian tells The Associated Press that Thursday night’s incident appears to be a “stupid prank.”

Police had evacuated customers and employees from the Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena after receiving a report of an explosion shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday.

Gourdikian says investigators believe the device was “made to make a loud bang, which it did.” He says the restaurant did not receive a threat before or after the incident.

Witnesses described the man who threw the device as having a heavy beard and wearing all-black clothing and a black beanie

Police are still canvassing the area for surveillance video. They say they haven’t yet pinned down a motive.

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7:25 a.m.

A man dressed in black threw an incendiary device into a popular Southern California restaurant but authorities say no one was injured when it went off.

The incident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday at a Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena.

A police statement says officers responding to a report of an explosion evacuated customers and employees of the Colorado Boulevard restaurant and found a homemade pyrotechnic device.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad rendered the device safe.

Police say witnesses described the man who threw the device as having a heavy beard and wearing all black clothing and a black beanie.

The investigation is being handled by city police but federal authorities were notified.

The restaurant is in the historic Old Pasadena dining and shopping district.