Allen Sovory II hadn’t been back to Sonoma County in nearly 15 years since attending Rio Lindo Academy in Healdsburg. Sovory, from southern California, is a singer-songwriter whose songs have been used in a number of movies, including The Fan; Jason’s Lyric; Blue Crush; The Sixth Man and American Wedding. Sovory has also toured as a backup singer for Lenny Kravitz and says he’s been in a ton of airports and never left one of his bags behind.
That all changed last week when Sovory flew in to Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport on a Horizon flight. Waiting in front of the terminal for a friend to give him a ride, he promptly left a satchel containing a laptop and papers on the stone retaining wall where he’d been seated. It wasn’t very long until someone phoned in a suspicious package without it’s owner present. Without hesitation, the Sonoma County Sheriff Department bomb unit was dispatched to the airport, who then taped off the front of the terminal to keep everyone safe.
Realizing he’d left his bag at the terminal, Sovory and his friend doubled back to get the satchel, all the while his friend quipping “This is Sonoma County, it will still be there.”
Well it was, but to Sovorys surprise, his forgotten bag was being x-rayed by officers from the sheriff’s department as a potential explosive device. Sovory says his friend stayed in the car “laughing hysterically” while he sheepishly told officers the bag was his property. After the bag had been photographed, officers asked the southland visitor to verify what was contained therein. He did.
The tape was pulled from the front of the terminal, Sovory got his satchel back and life at our rural airport got back to normal.
Windsor police Sgt. Mark Essick assembles an x-ray device in front of the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011. The sheriff's department was called to the airport to investigate a suspicious package (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2011
Allen Sovory II waits behind police lines at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport Friday, Feb. 4, 2011, as the sheriff's department was called to the airport to investigate a suspicious package, which was Sovory's briefcase that he left behind after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles. At right is Sonoma County Sheriff's officer Bryan Jenson. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2011
Allen Sovory II waits behind police lines at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport Friday, Feb. 4, 2011, as the sheriff's department was called to the airport to investigate a suspicious package, which was Sovory's briefcase that he left behind after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles. At right is Sonoma County Sheriff's officer Bryan Jenson. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2011
llen Sovory II thanks Windsor police Sgt. Mark Essick after Sovory left a briefcase with a computer inside in front of the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport Friday, Feb. 4, 2011.
-Kent Porter
