Explosive devices left at Schwab office, home

Related article from San Jose Mercury News:

Famed broker Schwab likely target of explosives
By David L. Beck
Mercury News
Authorities disabled two suspected briefcase bombs in Monterey County on Monday that appeared to target brokerage tycoon Charles Schwab. One was found on the doorstep of a building where his firm has offices. The other had been placed just outside the gate at his home on the Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The discoveries forced the evacuation of buildings around the firm's offices at 100 Clock Tower Place in Carmel, near the popular Barnyard Shopping Center, and the two-hour closing of the famed golf course's 14th fairway as sheriff's officials from Monterey and Santa Cruz counties examined and disabled the devices, Monterey County sheriff's Sgt. Vince Hernandez said.
Roger Wildley, who leads the Santa Cruz County sheriff's bomb squad, said neither device was ``fully functional'' but that both contained volatile materials that could have caused serious explosions. No injuries or major property damage were reported at either location.
Schwab was reported to have been in town over the weekend for the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach. But Hernandez said it was not known whether the discount stock brokerage pioneer was at his Pebble Beach home, recently completed after being under construction for several years, at any time Monday.
Pieces of the suspected bombs were collected as evidence.
``The two incidents are likely related due to the similarities of the devices,'' the Monterey County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.
Glen Mathison, a spokesman at Schwab's San Francisco headquarters, said corporate officials have been in a ``close conversation'' with authorities in Monterey County, but he declined to elaborate, citing security.
Mathison refused to speculate whether the devices deliberately targeted Schwab properties. The Clock Tower Place offices share a building with a few other businesses, he said. Schwab, the country's biggest discount broker, last week announced plans to hand out pink slips to 250 workers and close about 20 branches by the end of the year.
Schwab also owns a home in Atherton, but police there said had received no requests to add patrols or do anything out of the ordinary in response to the Monterey County explosives. And there was no sign of any unusual activity at the gated home Monday evening.
The Schwabs could not be reached for comment.
The explosive devices, reported about 7:15 a.m., were in briefcases with wires protruding, Monterey County sheriff's officials said. The Santa Cruz County sheriff's bomb squad, which contracts with Monterey County, used a robot and portable X-ray equipment to inspect the device at the Carmel office, revealing what Monterey County sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Galletti said was an explosive device.
Authorities said the briefcase placed at a side entrance to the office contained a detonating device and two small propane tanks. The briefcase at the Schwabs' Pebble Beach home contained similar materials.

Schwab 'bombs' called a hoax
Company says suspicious packages found at broker's home and office were not bombs.
August 19, 2003: 8:05 AM EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Suspicious packages found Monday at the home of the chairman of discount brokerage Charles Schwab Corp. and at a company office were not bombs, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
On Monday, a package with wires sticking out of it was found at the home of Charles Schwab in Pebble Beach, Calif. Earlier in the day, a similar device had been found at a Schwab office in nearby Carmel.
"To call these packages bombs would be inaccurate based on everything we know now," company spokesman Glen Mathison said. "Based on all of the information we're getting it appears to have been a hoax."

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