The bombs — which turned out to be smoke bombs typically used to test for leaks in pipes — were taken to the Tracy Police Department firing range south of town, where police detonated both of them.
Police found the suspicious-looking objects at about 11:30 p.m., when officers arrested Adrian Charles Jemison of Lathrop, who allegedly tried to cash a fraudulent $6,000 check at Wells Fargo, 2600 S. Tracy Blvd.
Wells Fargo staff “did an excellent job of delaying” Jemison, according to police Sgt. Tony Sheneman, allowing the police to get to the scene.
During a search of the suspect’s gold sedan, which was parked directly in front of Wells Fargo at the far west end of the shopping center parking lot, cops found black clothing, ski masks, two loaded handguns and two cylinders that looked like explosive devices.
Police soon cleared the southwest corner of the shopping center’s parking lot, stringing bright yellow tape from tree to tree under the hot midday sun and evacuating nearby businesses as a small crowd of onlookers gathered near Raley’s at the lot’s opposite end.
Wells Fargo, ChilaBerries, Subway, SuperCuts, a children’s store, Chase Bank and Taqueria la Mexicana were all evacuated.
Raley’s, the anchor store in the shopping center, and Queen B Nails and Salon, which shares its section of the parking lot with Wells Fargo but has no windows facing the bank and car, remained open during the investigation.
Daniel Melendez, manager of the taqueria, wasn’t worried about the possible danger but lamented the loss of lunchtime traffic to the store.
“We’re just worried about business,” Melendez said. “We have a couple call-in orders (placed before the evacuation) that are going to be pretty upset.”
Capt. John Espinoza empathized with the business owners but said police were being as careful as possible with a potentially dangerous situation.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to close businesses, but it’s the prudent thing to do,” he said at the scene.
As soon as the suspicious items were removed, police took down the crime scene tape and let businesses reopen.
The county bomb squad was called in and arrived at about 1 p.m. Technicians took numerous x-rays of the bombs before a decision was made at about 1:30 p.m. to take them away and detonate them at a safe location.
As of press time, 36-year-old Jemison was still in jail. Jemison faces charges of child endangerment, possession of firearms and passing a fraudulent check.
His daughter, who was with him at the time he walked into Wells Fargo and had been taken into protective custody, was returned to her mother.
• Photo editor Glenn Moore and associate editor Jon Mendelson contributed to this report.
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