Pipe Bomb Damages Pickup Owned by U.S. Customs Agent

A pipe bomb exploded early Monday morning on the windshield of a pickup owned by a U.S. Customs Service inspector, causing extensive damage to the vehicle but no injuries.

Sheriff’s officials said the bomb exploded about 3 a.m. in the 13000 block of Cynthia Lane in Poway. Authorities estimated damage to the 1988 Ford Ranger at $3,000. The windshield, dashboard and passenger area were severely damaged.

Officials from both the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the Customs Service refused to identify the inspector, who works at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Sheriff’s Sgt. Conrad Grayson said the victim requested anonymity out of concern for himself and his family.

The bomb used in the incident was fashioned from a 6-inch galvanized pipe, filled with gunpowder and capped at both ends, Grayson said. The truck was parked in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion about 3:15 a.m. The blast triggered numerous car alarms and set several dogs barking, a witness said.

The site of the bombing is less than a mile from the Silver Ridge Road home of Donald Lee Carlson, 41, who was shot in August by Customs and Drug Enforcement Administration agents during a drug raid.

Carlson’s home was raided by federal drug agents who acted on faulty information given to them by an informant, who had alleged that the businessman’s home was used to store cocaine. There were no drugs found in the home.

The agents and Carlson exchanged gunfire, and Carlson was shot in the arm, leg and chest. He was hospitalized for several weeks. Federal prosecutors decided not to file charges against him.

Before Monday’s bombing, the inspector’s vehicle had been broken into twice and vandalized twice since the August shootout between Carlson and drug agents, a federal source said.

However, Grayson said sheriff’s investigators have found no evidence to connect the bombing with the August incident.

According to Grayson, pipe bomb explosions, “unfortunately . . . are pretty common these days.” He said another bombing occurred at 9:30 p.m. Friday in Ramona. That bomb was detonated in front of a closed day care center, he said, and no one was injured.

“I’m not trying to minimize this (Poway) incident,” Grayson said. “We’re taking a serious look at it. But we also get reports of about 10 pipe bombs a week.”

Officials said they were not sure whether the inspector’s truck was the intended target, and are looking into the possibility that the inspector’s wife or children might have been targets. The family owns two other vehicles, Grayson said.

“We don’t really know if he was the target,” he said. “We’re handling this investigation like any other bombing. The only thing unusual about this is that the victim is a customs inspector.”

On Monday, other angry inspectors complained that they were not told about the bombing. Two inspectors said there were rumors Monday that an inspector’s car had been firebombed during the night. Those rumors were denied by supervisors, said the inspectors, who requested anonymity.

“This is definitely a need-to-know situation,” one inspector said. “You have to advise employees about an incident like this so they can take precautions. They should’ve put a briefing together for the inspectors. They haven’t done that and nobody’s said anything to us.”

Another source said the failure of Customs administrators to alert inspectors about the bombing is especially troublesome because an intelligence report circulated last week warned that Colombian drug lords had threatened to kill U.S. drug officials and agents.

The report, which originated from DEA agents in Colombia, said the drug cartels were upset over a recent increase in drug seizures by U.S. Border Patrol agents and Customs inspectors along the U.S.-Mexico border, from San Ysidro to Tecate.

However, there is no evidence that members of the Colombian cartels were involved in Monday’s bombing.