For the third time in three months, Corona del Mar residents reported suspicious noises Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning — noises that sounded like gunshots or fireworks, witnesses and police logs indicate.
“I heard it again at 12:50 a.m. this morning,” according to an email from a Corona del Mar Today reader, who described the noise as explosions. “I live near Sherman Gardens and it sounded like it was within a block or two.”
Newport Beach police received calls about possible illegal fireworks at 8:56 p.m. in the 300 block of Carnation Avenue, at 12:50 a.m. in the 400 block of Carnation and again at 2:07 a.m. in the 300 block of Carnation.
“The call at 8:56 was from someone who thought they heard fireworks at Begonia Park,” said Kathy Lowe, a Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman, in an email. An officer checked the area but didn’t find anything suspicious, she said.
“The next call at 12:50 a.m. was from the same area and the reporting person saw a vehicle speeding away from the area and smoke,” her email said. “The officer was unable to locate the vehicle.”
The third call was logged as fireworks, but it appears that the person who reported the incident didn’t hear or see fireworks but rather heard two people talking in the park and thought they might have been connected to the earlier reports, she said.
Police responded to several calls about suspicious noise in the same area in late July; read our story here. In late May, loud noises were reported in the early morning hours in Corona Highlands as well as near Fourth and Marguerite avenues; read that story here.
Lowe said it was unknown if the reports were connected.
“It could very well be kids lighting fireworks in the park, but it’s hard to say since we haven’t been able to contact anyone involved at the time of occurrence,” she said in another email.
