Pipe Bombs Found : Man Convicted of Aiming Gun at Fellow Motorist

A man arrested for aiming a gun at a motorist and later found to have six pipe bombs in his truck was convicted Friday of possessing explosives and pointing a gun at a moving vehicle.

Los Angeles police closed a portion of Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Canoga Park for about six hours on July 1 after they found the explosives in the truck belonging to Frank John Salado, 40, a transient.

The bombs, which were destroyed by police, were “powerful enough to kill someone,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Baron said.

Salado’s reason for having the homemade pipe bombs was not known, Baron said.

Salado was tailgating a car on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, pulled alongside and pointed a gun at Michael Lamendola, whose wife and two children were in the car, Baron said.

When Salado parked near a liquor store at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Saticoy Street, Lamendola notified two police officers nearby, Baron said.

The officers stopped Salado outside the liquor store and discovered the gun and the pipe bombs, he said.

Salado’s trial before Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Raymond Mireles lasted one day.

He is scheduled to be sentenced April 14 and faces a maximum of six years and eight months in prison.