As helicopters buzzed overhead, bomb squads scoured the ground and major transportation arteries in Boston were shut down Wednesday, some area residents in the city were partially or even completely unaware of the drama surrounding a bizarre publicity stunt gone bad.

But they're plenty mad, now.

"Whoever came up with that idea is a complete idiot," said Jennifer Ross, an Attleboro High School graduate and senior at Emmanuel College in Boston. "Why would anyone think that's a good idea?"

Ross said she was unaware of the perceived bomb threat that for a while had paralyzed key Boston arteries when she stepped out of an office meeting to check her phone messages.

"Our Internet wasn't working in the office at the time," she said. "But I checked a message from my boyfriend that said, 'Hey, hope you're having a nice day, and avoid taking the bridges.'" Ross said she only learned about the hoax itself when she later called her boyfriend - while commuting over a bridge.

More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston elicited an alarmed official reaction over possible terrorism in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley said Peter Berdovsky, 29, of Arlington, was arrested on one felony charge of placing a hoax device, and one charge of disorderly conduct.

"We're not going to let this go without looking at the further roots of how this happened to cause the panic in this city," she said.

Bomb squads searched bridges and highways and a portion of the Charles River was shut down before authorities deemed the devices harmless.

"It's a hoax - and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick, who added he will speak to the state's attorney general "about what recourse we may have."

Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner and parent of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

In statement issued several hours after initial reports of the devices came in, Turner said, "The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger."

Taunton resident Chris Hallee was one of several dozen commuters returning to Attleboro from Boston by train about 7 p.m., six hours after the first devices were reported.

A tax credit syndicator, Hallee, 41, said that he was not personally affected by any traffic delays, but had read bits and pieces about the incident on the Internet. Fellow commuter Theresa Royal, 49, had heard only snippets.

"I heard heard about it only on the elevator," Royal said, adding that she noticed an extra police presence at Boston's South Station.

Turner Broadcasting said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said. As soon as the company realized the problem posed by the devices, it said, law enforcement officials were told of their locations in all 10 cities.

The marketing firm that put them up has been ordered to remove them immediately, said Phil Kent, Turner chairman.

"We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger," Kent said. "We appreciate the gravity of this situation and, like any responsible company would, are putting all necessary resources toward understanding the facts surrounding it as quickly as possible."

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he'll seek to punish those responsible, and indicated that the penalty could be two to five years in prison per count.

After Turner made its announcement about 5 p.m., Menino said he was "prepared to take any and all legal action" against the company and its affiliates "for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents."

"That would include any criminal or civil action," Menino spokeswoman Meaghan Maher later clarified.

Attleboro area residents appeared to agree with Menino's stand.

"It was a very foolish thing to do," Royal said of Turner's publicity campaign. "After Sept. 11, everything is different. If I see something suspicious, I definitely remember it."

Aimee Nadow, an Attleboro High graduate now at Simmons College, said she thought the company's ex-post-facto statement was responsible, but not necessarily enough.

"I'm concerned about the use of (police) resources," she said. "If there was a real incident going on at the time, authorities wouldn't have been able to respond. I think (Turner) should pay for the resources used."

Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke praised Boston authorities for sharing their knowledge quickly with Washington officials and the public.

"Hoaxes are a tremendous burden on local law enforcement and counter-terrorism resources and there's absolutely no place for them in a post-9/11 world," Knocke said.

Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires hanging from them.

The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate 93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.

Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.

The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a structure beneath the span, authorities said.

Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well. A similar device was found Wednesday evening just north of Fenway Park, police spokesman Eddy Chrispin said.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.

The cartoon also includes two trouble-making, 1980s-graphic-like characters called "mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err - who were pictured on the suspicious devices.