Bomb Damages Car at Mall; No One Hurt

A small bomb went off in a car in a Sherman Oaks Galleria parking structure Tuesday, but caused no injuries and little damage.

Los Angeles police officers cordoned off the first floor of the seven-level parking structure while they investigated the 4 p.m. explosion in a white Jeep Cherokee.

The owner, Angela Buono, described by police as a San Fernando Valley resident in her 20s, told officers she jumped from the Jeep as she was backing it out of her space when she heard strange noises and saw smoke.

After the explosion, hundreds of holiday shoppers were asked by police and security guards to return to stores, which remained open, while police checked surrounding cars for similar devices. None was found.

Fran Benitez of North Hollywood, who was shopping with her two children, said she went to a department store’s television display to watch a Lakers basketball game. By 7:30 p.m., she found she could still not return to her car.

“I’m hungry. We’re tired. The Lakers lost,” she said. “What else is there for us to do? We’re shopped-out. I don’t want to go back in there.”

The Jeep was parked in a lot reserved for employees of the stores and an adjacent office complex, where Buono works.

“We had a car bombing involving an improvised explosive device,” Los Angeles Police Detective Ken Bourne said. “We have no definite suspect or motive at this time.”

He said damage to the Jeep was confined to the underside and engine area. Cars on either side were slightly damaged by debris, and one had a flat tire, the detective said.