PELHAM BAY — A Bronx man and his girlfriend walked away unscathed after one of two homemade aerosol can bombs that were attached to the undercarriage of their car exploded Wednesday night, police said.
The 24-year-old man was driving with a 28-year-old girlfriend in a rented red Nissan Versa when he began to see smoke coming out from under the rear right side of his vehicle, which suddenly exploded at Mahan Ave. and Roberts Ave. in Pelham Bay about 7:10 p.m., sources said.
The explosion blew out their right rear tire and deployed all the passenger air bags, police said. The driver managed to pull the car safely to the side of the road, where the couple escaped without injury.
"It was a really loud explosion. It was a boom. It lasted two seconds," said Adriana Rivas, 38, who lives nearby.
Rivas ran to her window to see where the detonation came from, she said.
"I saw a four-door red sedan was smoked out. The driver jumped out of the car with a girl and ran down the street," Rivas said.
Responding officers and Bomb Squad detectives found two Improved Explosive Devices made out of aerosol cans and rigged to a timing device detonator and attached to the bottom of the four-door sedan, police said.
The vehicle, which had Ohio license plates, was rented just three days earlier, sources said.
Police suspect the incident may be drug related since the driver has a history arrests, mostly for drugs.
There were no immediate arrests as the NYPD’s Arson and Explosion Squad launched an investigation.
"It was really scary. We didn't know if the car was going to catch on fire and explode," she said.
"It's pretty creepy someone could do something like that," Rivas added.
The targets of the bombs declined medical attention, sources said.
