2 Arrested in Car Bombing Tied to Remark About Woman

A homemade bomb blasted a student’s unoccupied car at Cal State Northridge on Friday, apparently as revenge because the car’s owner made a comment about another man’s girlfriend, Los Angeles police said. Two suspects were arrested.

Michael Quinn, 20, and Kurtis Jensen, 21, both of Los Angeles, were arrested on suspicion of possession of a destructive device after the 12:30 a.m. explosion damaged the car, which was parked in a student housing parking lot in the 9500 block of Zelzah Avenue, police said.

There were no injuries. Police declined to identify the car’s 20-year-old owner, a student at CSUN. The suspects, who were being held at the Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $16,000 bail each, are not students at the school, police said.

Los Angeles Police Detective Patrick Metoyer of the Criminal Conspiracy Unit said the car bombing was motivated by a dispute between Quinn and the car’s owner.

“You’re talking about your basic stupid thing,” Metoyer said. The car owner “made a comment about one suspect’s girlfriend and it went from there.”

The small explosive device, which police declined to describe, was placed on the rear window of the 1970 Mustang, police said. The blast blew out two of the car’s windows, tore holes in the trunk and roof, and partially burned the back end of the car. Nearby vehicles were not damaged.

“It would have been of sufficient force to cause serious injuries,” said Metoyer, who added that investigators believe that the intent was to damage the car, not to harm anyone.