Cops Eye Animal Rights Extremists in Attack on Marine Biologist

May 26, 2010— -- Police suspect a radical animal rights group in the sabotaging of brakes on the car of a marine biologist researcher in Santa Cruz, Calif., and a spokesman for one militant group did not rule it out.

The vehicle was parked on a steep hill and police said the brake lines and the cable for the emergency brake had been cut, Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Rick Martinez told ABCNews.com.

The researcher's wife discovered the damage to the car on Sunday when she spotted a pool of brake fluid beneath the vehicle when she about to drive it.

"Luckily the spouse spotted the damage and didn't operate the vehicle," Martinez said.

"Upon full inspection we discovered the entire brake system had been disabled," said Martinez. He said the Santa Cruz police have brought in the FBI.

"We're bringing in as many resources as we can and we're not missing a single shred of evidence," Martinez said.

The officer said animal rights groups have been involved in other attacks on researchers in the Santa Cruz area in recent years. Martinez said that police believe that one of those organization may be involved in cutting the researcher's brakes due to his work in the biology field.

Dr. Jerry Vlasak is the press officer for the North American Animal Liberation Front and said he didn't know whether the group was involved in the incident, but didn't rule it out.

"We haven't received any sort of communiqué. We may receive it later. Sometimes it appears a week or two, a month or two later," Vlasak told ABC News.

Vlasak said he is not involved in the activities of the underground members of ALF, but simply a spokesperson to communicate their activities.

"If this guy had done animal research, I would say this was a justified action," Vlasak said.

Martinez said the researcher whose car was sabotaged did not use animals in his work, but Vlasak was not convinced.

"The fact they said he's not doing animal research doesn't hold a lot of water with me. These guys are notorious for spinning it how they want to spin it," Vlasak said about the authorities.