Lawyer says he thinks he knows who bombed his car

DETROIT (AP) -- A Michigan lawyer who survived a car bomb with his two sons said recently he believes he knows who committed the crime but won't comment about the case while the investigation remains open. Erik Chappell said his boys, Grant and Cole, are doing well, more than two months after a bomb attached to their Volvo blew up in Monroe, about 35 miles south of Detroit, while they were riding inside. "I do," Chappell told The Associated Press when asked if he believes he knows who is responsible. "But I don't want to reveal my own personal thoughts." He said the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives still is on the case. "They're professional. They don't tell us much," Chappell said. He spoke to the AP while at the federal courthouse in Detroit to represent a client in a civil lawsuit, a dispute over a hot dog business in Monroe. Chappell said he suffered burns and shrapnel wounds on his right arm due to the bombing on Sept. 20. "Fortunately, I have the tip of my nose," he said. Indeed, there was no obvious sign of injury there, except for a slightly red tip from a burn. Chappell didn't talk about his sons, who required some hospital care after the bombing. "It's been a road," he said. A message seeking comment was left with the ATF office in Detroit. Remnants of the explosive were sent to federal specialists in Washington, D.C. Chappell lives near Monroe. His firm, Lyden Liebenthal & Chappell, Ltd., has offices in Monroe and Sylvania, Ohio. Published: Thu, Dec 15, 2011