El Cajon

The Sheriff’s Department arson and explosives unit is investigating the bombing of a young woman’s car that blew pieces of the vehicle onto nearby roofs and back yards near El Cajon late Wednesday. The bombing appears to be random, and there is n! known motive, investigators said.

Amber Maria Luban, 19, of La Mesa was visiting a friend in an unincorporated county area just south of El Cajon, said Detective William Campbell of the Sheriff’s Department. Luban, an employee of a billing agency, had left her compact car parked on New Ranch Road near Avocado Boulevard.

The pipe bomb, which was placed near the car’s left front tire, detonated shortly after 11 p.m., bringing residents out into the streets to investigate, Campbell said.

Campbell declined to describe the device in detail or to say how it was detonated.

Fragments from the bomb were found as far as 300 feet away and parts of the vehicle, which was heavily damaged, were blown onto nearby roofs and back yards, Campbell said. The entire front panel around the wheel was blown out, and there was structural damage to the engine and frame.

He said it appears that Luban’s car was selected at random and that there is no connection between the bombing and a pipe bomb found Wednesday in Santee.