A man allegedly under the influence of methamphetamine was arrested with a pipe bomb in his car in near Highway 101 early Thursday, authorities said.

San Jose Police Lt. Mike Sullivan said the incident began Wednesday night when a Special Operations MERGE unit on routine patrol made a traffic stop at North First Street and Matrix.

“They determined the driver was under the influence of methamphetamine and arrested him,” he said. “They searched the vehicle and found what appeared to be a pipe bomb about 10 inches long and two inches in diameter and called in the bomb squad.”

The suspect has since been identified as James McGill, 35, from San Jose.

For the next several hours, the bomb squad meticulously built a wall of sand bags across the street from the car and deployed its robotic bomb disposal unit. The robot carried the device from the car to the sandbags and disrupted it, triggering an explosion.

There was no damage to local businesses from the blast.

Sullivan said investigators were trying to determine just who McGill was and why he had a pipe bomb in his possession.