A suspicious device shut down the 101 Freeway near Universal City for several hours on Tuesday. (Credit: KTLA)

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

The 101 Freeway reopened around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, three hours after a suspicious device shut down all lanes in both directions near Universal City.

The incident began around 6 p.m. after a traffic collision between an SUV and another vehicle between Vineland Avenue and Barham Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy responding to the crash noticed something unusual about the driver of the SUV and detected suspicious smoke coming from the vehicle, according to Lt. Hoffman with LACSO Transit Services Bureau.

The driver was detained for a time, Hoffman said.

The deputy also observed a suspicious device inside the SUV, Hoffman said.

Arson and explosives teams were called to this scene to investigate.

A bomb squad robot was also deployed to get a closer look at the device, according to aerial video from the scene.

It was not known what authorities found inside the vehicle.