2 People Injured by Explosive Tossed Into Car at Red Light

Police are searching for four people who hurled a burning firecracker into a car at a red light on Bushard Street, injuring two people.

About 9 p.m. Friday, a Huntington Beach woman and her friend were driving north when a white Chrysler minivan raced up to their car, nearly rear-ending them before abruptly changing lanes, said Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Tom Arnold.

At Adams Avenue, the cars had stopped side by side for a red light when the driver of the minivan motioned the other car’s passenger to roll down the window. The passenger, a Costa Mesa man in his mid-30s, did so and was struck with what looked like an “M-80 firecracker with shards of glass taped to the body of the firework,” Arnold said. The device landed on his back and burned through his shirt.

When the driver tried to grab the burning firecracker to throw it out, it exploded, sending shards of glass into her hand and throughout the car, Arnold said.

She was taken to a Huntington Beach hospital, where she was scheduled to undergo surgery to her right hand. The passenger was treated for minor burns and released. Both victims’ names were withheld by police.

The attackers, two males and two females, fled east on Adams and are being sought by police. They are believed to be in their late teens or early 20s. The driver, who threw the firecracker, is a male about 18 years old, Arnold said.