Police Blow Up Bomb, Rental Car on Northridge Street

A car parked on a residential street in Northridge was destroyed Monday after Los Angeles police detonated a homemade bomb inside it.

Police said the bomb was too dangerous to remove from the vehicle.

There were no injuries when the bomb was “rendered safe” at 4 p.m. in the 8500 block of Enfield Avenue, said Detective Steven Spear of the criminal conspiracy unit, which is investigating the incident.

“But the car is history,” Spear said.

The bomb was found at 11:30 a.m. under the back seat of the rental car by the man who had rented it, Spear said. Police declined to identify him other than to say he is from Northridge.

“The bomb squad was brought in, and they looked at the device and how it was set in the car and determined it was unsafe to attempt any removal,” Spear said.

Police evacuated the neighborhood where the car was parked. Fire-retardant foam was sprayed inside the vehicle and bales of hay were stacked around it before the bomb was detonated, Spear said. City firefighters stood by, and neighborhood residents watched from about three blocks away.

Spear said no arrests have been made, and an investigation into the incident is continuing. He said it has not been determined how long the bomb had been in the car.