MONROE, Mich. (WUPW) - A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for powerful car bombing that injured a Monroe County attorney and his two sons Tuesday evening.
The three victims are "very fortunate" to have survived the attack that happened on East Elm Avenue, a tree-line street near an I-75 overpass. The explosion underneath the chassis turned their Volvo SUV into a blackened hunk of metal.
Seriously injured in the attack was 42-year-old Erik Chappell, an attorney from a Sylvania, Ohio, law firm, and his two young sons. All three were transported to an undisclosed Toledo area hospital.
LISTEN: Excerpts of 9-1-1 calls (courtesy of Monroe County dispatch)
MORE: Police Probe Cause of Monroe Vehicle Blast; 3 Hurt (myFOXDetroit.com)
Investigators believe the attorney may have been targeted.
Moments after the blast, as thick fire and smoke billowed into the clear sky, Chappell was somehow able to get out of the SUV and pull his two sons to safety.
He frantically called 9-1-1 and pleaded with the dispatcher to send help.
"We have a bad accident. My car blew up with two kids,"Â Chappell said to the dispatch operator, more concerned about his two sons. "You've been called on it already, but I'm telling you what is going on with my boys. I've got two significant leg injuries. One's to his bottom left leg and one to his left buttocks. They're chewed up pretty good. They're bleeding."
'I need someone here now."
Another call to the emergency dispatch was from someone who was in the middle of a conversation with Chappell when the bomb detonated.
"I was just on the phone with an attorney named Erik Chappell," the man told another dispatch operator. "He instructed me to call 9-1-1 twice and he hung up ... and I lost connection on the cell phone. He instructed me three times to call 9-1-1."
"He said something happened to my car, in my car. I couldn't catch it. The phone was away from him and, I don't know," the man continued.
Investigators were poring over what remained of the vehicle after the Tuesday evening blast, looking for clues about how the bomb was made and who might have planted it, said Special Agent Donald Dawkins, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He said the explosion was "above and beyond" any mechanical failure.
"There was a lot of power behind it. The victims are very fortunate, very blessed, to be alive," Dawkins said.
YouTube video clip courtesy The Monroe Evening News
Chappell, who lives in lives nearby in LaSalle Township in a comfortable neighborhood on Lake Erie, is an attorney with the Sylvania firm Lyden, Liebenthal & Chappell, Ltd. FOX Toledo called those offices and were told there was "no comment" on the situation. The law firm has an office in Monroe.
The firm's website says Chappell mostly handles business litigation in Ohio, Michigan and federal courts but also works in family law, such as divorce, and real estate.
Dawkins said Chappell and his two sons were lucky to survive this "heinous crime."
"When you have children involved, it really hits home," he said.
By evening, Dawkins said there were no suspects and that authorities were "going to work through the night." The device that caused the explosion could not be seen by the naked eye.
As for how the device was set off or why, authorities don't know. However, police have talked with Chappell in hopes of getting those answers.
Several tips have been received from the public in the hours after the explosion.
"We have several different directions and the public has been very good about calling in and we're trying to follow up on everything, follow it up," Dawkins said. "We can't substantiate anything right now so there's nothing concrete that we can move forward on, so we're still investigating and we will be through the night."
No one answered the door at the Chappell home mid-afternoon Wednesday. Michael Davison, 61, a retired sheriff's lieutenant who lives a few doors away, said the family hosts a popular party on the Fourth of July.
"They always put on a big fireworks display," Davison said.
He said Chappell regularly is outside playing with his three kids and also coaches football in the local Catholic youth league.
Neighbors say the father of four didn't appear to be in any trouble, that's why the bomb blast is such a shock to them.
It's really distressing," said Amy Thurber, neighbor. "It feels like I'm still shaking from it because the kids. It's horrible that someone would have that much of a vendetta against anyone."
Neighbors say Chappell, who recently just moved into the area is very family-oriented. After hearing that he and his two sons were injured, the news frightened them.
"I guess you hear things that's happened in Detroit and bigger cities but you never hear it happening in small towns like this," said Jerry King, neighbor. "It's kind of eerie."
Chappell, an avid boater, was supposed to race in his
yacht club's boat race Wednesday evening. The club's commodore told FOX Toledo News that the yacht family is praying and hoping for the best.
Shawn Remington, 33, said he was working outside his home when he heard what sounded like a heavy, metal dumpster lid being slammed shut and then saw a big column of smoke.
He said when he got to the scene, firefighters were extinguishing the blaze and rescue workers were loading the victims into ambulances. He said the vehicle was "totally melted."
"By the time I got there, there was nothing left of the vehicle," he said. "It was down to bare metal."
FOX affiliate WJBK in Detroit said the car bomb was described as a rolling inferno that the father and two sons somehow escaped.
The fire was so intense that it burned the asphalt on East Elm and created potholes.
The vehicle involved in the incident is being disassembled to determine what type of explosion took place.
ATF and other law enforcement agencies are not commenting on possible suspects or a motive at this time.
Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to call: 1-800-ATFBOMB (284-2662) or 1-313-202-3400.
Police Probe Cause of Monroe Vehicle Blast; 3 Hurt: MyFoxDETROIT.com
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FOX Toledo News reporters Nicole Collier, Allison Brown, and Sharia Davis, FOX affiliate WJBK / myFOXDetroit and Associated Press reporters Jeff Karoub, David Runk and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.
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