2 Men Arrested for Alleged Attempt to Bomb Auto

Two men who say they were trying to rid a neighborhood of a drug dealer were in custody Sunday after trying to blow up the man’s car with a homemade bomb, authorities said.

Jeffrey Lee Wall, 43, of Agua Dulce and his cousin, Jeffrey Lee Gilkey, 24, were arrested early Sunday on suspicion of exploding a destructive device, said Lt. Steve Dolan of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Dolan said Wall and Gilkey allegedly placed a small charge made of plastic piping and duct tape under a 22-year-old man’s parked car at the man’s home Saturday night. Attached to the charge was a gasoline can.

It seemed, Dolan said, that the charge was supposed to ignite the gas, causing a second, larger explosion.

The intended victim, whom deputies declined to identify, arrived at his house in the 12900 block of Summit Knolls Road with his parents about 11 p.m. The man noticed the device under his car and wires leading into nearby bushes, Dolan said.

While his father entered the house to turn on outside lights, the man followed the length of the wire into the brush and found Wall holding a detonator device, Dolan said.

“Wall tells him that this is a warning to stop selling drugs to kids in his trailer park,” said Dolan. Wall then allegedly detonated the charge as the man watched.

“At least in his own mind, [Wall] was acting like a concerned citizen,” Dolan said.

The charge went off but failed to ignite the gas, Dolan said. Wall jumped into a waiting pickup truck driven by Gilkey and the men sped off, Dolan said.

Wall and Gilkey were arrested at 6 a.m. at Wall’s trailer on Agua Dulce Canyon Road, about five miles from the victim’s home, Dolan said. They are being held at the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station in lieu of $500,000 bail each.

The men were not arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, according to Deputy Carrie Stuart, because the intended victim was not near the car when the device was detonated.