Highway 89 near Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe reopened after five hours, Caltrans says

Highway 89 has reopened near Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay after being closed for five hours Friday as the FBI and other police agencies investigated a possible bomb threat, according to officials.

Law enforcement officers were pursuing a man and woman who were believed to be carrying explosives earlier in the day, according to an unnamed source who was not authorized to discuss the situation. It’s unclear when the situation began, but Caltrans issued a closure alert just after 3 p.m.

Police chased the suspects around the lake before taking the woman into custody near Emerald Bay, the source said. The man fled on foot and a manhunt began.

The suspect was spotted near Camp Richardson and made his way to the Raley’s supermarket on Emerald Bay Road before being arrested without incident, according to Chris Fiore, communications manager for the city of South Lake Tahoe. He’s being charged with resisting arrest.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department made the arrest on behalf of the parks department, Fiore said.

The highway was still closed for another two hours, as a suspicious device remained on the road, Sgt. Anthony Prencipe of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office tweeted just after 6:15 p.m.

People heading up to Tahoe for the weekend experienced major traffic delays. But all lanes are open now, according to Caltrans.

Emerald Bay State Park was closed for nearly three hours but opened again around 7 p.m., a park aide confirmed.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office is the main agency handling the incident. The Reno Police Department is also involved, the unnamed source said. An email from the Sacramento FBI field office directed questions to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, which would not comment on the matter.

This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 3:53 PM.