Local News in Brief : Suspect Surrenders in Alleged Bomb Hoax

A38-year-old Moorpark man wanted on suspicion of filing false police reports that claimed he was the victim of racially inspired death threats and an attempted car bombing, turned himself in Friday to Ventura County sheriff’s deputies in Thousand Oaks, authorities said.

Oscar E. Love, a finance executive with Transamerica Corp., surrendered about noon on the advice of his attorney after he had eluded investigators for about a day, Sgt. Mike Barnes said.

Love, who is black, had told investigators that, since he and his family had moved to their home in the Varsity Park area of Moorpark, he had received numerous verbal and written threats to his life, including one note that stated: “We really don’t care for uppity blacks.”

On Jan. 24, Love claimed to have discovered a bomb attached to his car’s battery and wired to explode upon ignition, Barnes said. Authorities defused the bomb without incident.

Barnes refused to discuss a motive for Love’s purported behavior, other than to say that the suspect was probably motivated by “personal problems within his family.” A family member had told deputies Thursday that Love had fabricated the incidents, Barnes said.

Love was being held in lieu of $5,000 bail at the East Valley sheriff’s station. When authorities present their case to the district attorney’s office next week, they will probably also seek a felony charge of possession of a destructive device, Barnes said.