Animal rights activists suspected in fire

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Police say they are investigating a weekend firebomb attack on the home of a California scientist who had rankled animal rights activists.

Medianews reported Sunday that the predawn bombing Saturday forced the family to evacuate their Santa Cruz home via an escape ladder and was being investigated as a possible attempted homicide.

The apparent target was David Feldheim, a neuroscientist at the University of California-Santa Cruz who was on a list of researchers in what Medianews called a threatening animal-rights pamphlet left at a coffee shop last week.

Medianews said some injuries resulted from the hasty escape, and police considered the attack an attempted murder since people were in the house when the fire was started.

The incident was one of two firebombings Saturday involving university faculty. A car belonging to another scientist was bombed in the victim's driveway. The person was not among the names and addresses on the pamphlet.

Police later Saturday raided a home occupied by several students and confiscated a computer hard drive. No one was arrested; however, Medianews said the occupants remained persons of interest in the investigation.