Device made from pipe, aerosol cans explodes under car in Bronx

PELHAM BAY, Bronx (WABC) -- Two aerosol cans with a detonator exploded under a car with two people inside as it approached a Bronx intersection.

The incident is being investigated as retribution for a prior drug deal.

Around 7 p.m. Wednesday, police said they received numerous calls of a loud explosion in Pelham Bay at Mahan and Roberts avenues. When they arrived, they found a four-door sedan with a flat tire with its airbags deployed.

A 24-year-old man who was driving and his 28-year-old woman were inside the car at the time of the explosion. They were not injured.

The explosive device was taped under the car; it blew out the right rear tire. The bomb was made of two aerosol cans and a pipe; it went off just as the car pulled up to the intersection.

The driver has known prior drug dealings and New York City Police Department investigators said someone planted this crude pipe bomb on his car for revenge.

Only one of the cans exploded. The device was taped to the rear wheel wells. The device was not likely to cause the car to explode.

The car, which was a rental, was towed away around 4 a.m. Thursday.

The investigation is ongoing as police try to determine when the explosive was attached to the car and if the driver was the intended target.