Comic fan told cops devices weren’t bombs

When Erin Scott first noticed what she thought was an obscene sticker on her storefront a few days ago, she didn’t think much of it.

Scott, who is the manager of the New England Comics store at 131 Harvard St. in Allston, later realized that the object affixed near the store’s sign was not a sticker, but a device with a picture of one of her favorite cartoon characters on it.

“It didn’t worry me, because I watch that show and I recognized the character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” she said. “I thought it was an art student’s project or something, and I planned to take it down soon because it was giving the finger and I didn’t need something like that on my store front.”

However, when Scott saw news reports early Wednesday afternoon and realized that similar objects around the city were causing panic, she called the police to identify the device and let them know that there was one outside her shop.

Although she can’t be 100 percent sure, Scott thinks she may have been one of the first people in Boston to alert the police that the objects paralyzing the city were probably not bombs,. They turned out instead to be a case of “viral” marketing gone bad.

The city was plunged into a frenzy, as state and federal investigators, police, and bomb units raced through the city seeking 38 of the devices, in some cases destroying them as a precaution.

Shutdowns affected Storrow and Memorial drives, the Longfellow and Boston University bridges and Interstate 93, while extra Coast Guard patrols were seen at Rowes Wharf and at commuter ferries. 

Allston faced minimal disruption compared to other areas of Boston, because by the time police arrived on Harvard Street around 3 p.m., they apparently knew the devices did not pose a danger. Scott said her store was evacuated for only a short time while the device was removed, and soon afterward it was back to business as usual.

A furious Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed Thursday to throw the book at the masterminds behind the ill-conceived guerrilla campaign, which plunged the city into pandemonium and blew nearly $1 million in police overtime and other costs.

As city and state attorneys laid groundwork for criminal charges and lawsuits, cops seized 27-year-old Arlington multimedia artist Peter Berdovsky, who posted film on his Web site boasting that he and friends planted the battery-wired devices, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown. Both were jailed overnight on charges of placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.

“This is outrageous activity to get publicity for a failing show,” said Menino, referring to the battery-operated light-up ads for the Cartoon Network’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” which sparked at least nine bomb scares in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Allston.

Menino promised to sue Turner Broadcasting Co., the Cartoon Network’s parent company, to criminally prosecute Berdovsky and anyone else responsible for the devices, and to petition the FCC to pull the network’s license.

“It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this irresponsible marketing scheme,” Menino said.

Scott, though not as outraged as Menino, was not particularly impressed with the stunt either.

“Viral marketing is an interesting approach, but they didn’t really think through what the consequences would be,” she said. “They should stick to more non-threatening forms of marketing in future.”