WEST COVINA, Calif. (Aug. 23) - Two young men shown in a surveillance videotape released by the FBI are the prime suspects in a $2.5 million vandalism and arson spree that targeted sports utility vehicles parked at car dealerships and on city streets, officials said.
Slogans such as ''Fat, Lazy Americans'' and ''I (heart) pollution'' were painted on vehicles during the early Friday attacks concentrated in Los Angeles' eastern suburbs in the San Gabriel Valley.
The radical Earth Liberation Front stated in an unsigned e-mail Friday that the incidents were ''ELF actions'' but added it had not be in contact with those responsible.
The underground group has taken responsibility for vandalizing sport utility vehicles at dealerships in Santa Cruz, Erie, Pa., Seattle and Eugene, Ore., and earlier this month claimed responsibility for burning a San Diego area apartment building that was under construction.
At a news conference Friday night, officials with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they were investigating ELF's connection but hadn't ruled out others might be involved.
The surveillance video showed two white men, possibly in their late teens, darting from car to car, spray-painting graffiti on vehicles at a car dealership.
About 20 vehicles, mostly Hummers, were torched about 5 a.m. at the Clippinger Chevrolet in West Covina and other vehicles were badly damaged, said Rick Genovese, West Covina's assistant fire chief.
SUVs at a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Arcadia and Ford and Mitsubishi dealerships in Duarte also were vandalized. The surveillance videotape was from the Ford dealership in Duarte.
Several SUVs parked on residential streets in Monrovia were tagged with ''ELF'' and other slogans, said Sgt. Tom Wright.
There were no other fires at dealerships, but one SUV in Monrovia was set ablaze in front of someone's home, Wright said. The car was also sprayed with graffiti.
The ELF has claimed responsibility for a slew of arson attacks against commercial entities that members say threaten or damage the environment. It is suspected in a $50 million arson Aug. 1 fire that destroyed a five-story housing complex under construction in San Diego's fast-growing northern edge.
ELF tends to distance itself from criminal acts but urges others to commit them, said Randy Parsons, assistant special agent in charge of the counterterrorism branch of the Los Angeles FBI office.
''They tend to use very young folks because they are impressionable,'' he said. ''They like to manipulate and use people.''
Parsons said the perpetrators face multiple charges of arson, which carries a penalty of five to 20 years in prison for each count.
AP-NY-08-23-03 0521EDT
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We must be getting old, chcr....