UPDATE: Authorities Deem Briefcase Empty, Area Safe

UPDATED 8:05 p.m.: La Crescenta residents were allowed to drive back to their homes tonight after explosives investigators used a robot to inspect a "suspicious" briefcase.

"We live on altura and saw the robot driving around- thanks for updating, they wouldnt tell us anything!!! Casey Primo said on Montrose Patch's public Facebook page.

UPDATED 7:21 p.m.: Investigators used a robot to inspect a briefcase that was tied to the Foothill (210) Freeway in La Crescenta and forced the freeway shut down during rush hour.

Both the eastbound and westbound lanes of the freeway from Ocean View Boulevard to La Crescenta Avenue were re-opened just after 7 p.m. The briefcase was rendered empty and the area deemed safe.

Neighborhood residents had not been evacuated, but those trying to drive to their homes were held back until deputies allowed them back.

UPDATE: and arson and explosives investigators from the Los Angeles County Fire Department are investigating a possible suspicious package above the Foothill (210) Freeway in La Crescenta.

The California Highway Patrol received a call from a driver who said they saw a suspicious package on the Rosemont Avenue bridge above the freeway about 5:45 p.m., Sheriff’s Sgt. Tracy Stuart of Crescenta Valley Station told Patch.

The CHP is shutting down the freeway from La Crescenta Avenue to Ocean View Boulevard, on the border of La Canada Flintridge, Stuart said.

No homes are currently evacuated and no injuries are reported. 

Deputies at the scene have closed off the area above the freeway, on Rosemont Avenue, between Altura and Mayfield avenues.

Editor's Note: A deputy at the scene told Patch that the robot exploded the briefcase, but Lt. Angela Sherpherd, CV Station watch commander, said that was not the case. The earlier version of this story has been corrected.