Boston – More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most, if not all, of the devices depict a character giving an obscene hand gesture.
Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown were each arrested Wednesday night on one felony charge of placing a hoax device and one charge of disorderly conduct, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said.
In a news release announcing Stevens’ arrest, she said the men worked together to place the devices. At an earlier news conference, she said Berdovsky had been hired to place the devices.
“We’re not going to let this go without looking at the further roots of how this happened to cause the panic in this city,” she said at a news conference.
Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down, and bomb squads were sent in before the devices were declared harmless.
“It’s a hoax – and it’s not funny,” said Gov. Deval Patrick, who said he’ll ask Coakley “what recourse we may have.”
Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” a surreal TV series that includes a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.
“The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger,” Turner Broadcasting said in a statement. It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia.
“We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger,” the company said. The marketing firm that put them up has been ordered to remove them immediately, said Phil Kent, Turner chairman.
