FBI investigates vandalism to local business

by Larry Rogowin

The brake lines of nearly 50 delivery trucks from a Villa Park business were apparently cut sometime over the weekend, resulting in over $50,000 in damage.

A self-described international animal rights group is considered a possible suspect by the FBI.

Forty-eight Supreme Lobster and Seafood Co. trucks were inflicted with impairment to their braking systems, according to a representative of the company, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Twenty of the trucks sustained damage to their refrigeration systems, added the representative.

Supreme Lobster and Seafood Co. is based in Villa Park (on the 200 block of E. North Ave.) with a branch located in Las Vegas.

The alleged incident occurred during the early hours of Sunday morning, noted Detective Sgt. Norman Hall of the Villa Park police, which is participating in the investigation with the FBI and the Illinois State Police.

There were no witnesses reported, added Hall.

"One of the [Supreme Lobster] drivers left early [Monday morning] to start deliveries and found out he had no brakes," explained Ross Rice, a spokesman for the FBI in Chicago, who added that the company reported the damage to Villa Park police on Monday morning after more drivers noticed the same problem.

No truck drivers were injured, assured Rice.

Supreme Lobster personnel also noticed the phrase, "ALF - No Brakes," spray-painted or written with a marker on a garage door located on company property, said Rice, who explained that "ALF" is a common acronym associated with the Animal Liberation Front.

An e-mail titled "ALF Communique" - which described the alleged incident, referred to it as a "huge hit," and credited it to a group called the "Groundhog Crew" and "ALF" - was sent late Sunday to the Chicago Tribune, noted Rice, who does not know of anyone else receiving the communique.

"[Supreme Lobster is] responsible for the deaths of more than one billion sea creatures over the past 25 years," stated the communique, which promised further action against the company.

Rice said the FBI is investigating the alleged incident as a domestic terrorism case.

Attempts to contact the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) were unsuccessful.

According to its Web site, www.animalliberation.net, ALF "consists of small autonomous groups of people all over the world who carry out direct action according to the ALF guidelines. These groups are called cells that range from one individual to many individuals working closely together. Activists in one cell do not know ALF activists in another cell because they remain anonymous."

An incident can be deemed "an ALF action," stated the Web site, if it follows the group's "strict nonviolence guidelines."

"Economic sabotage and property destruction are considered ALF actions, as well as live liberations," stated the Web site.

Rice said ALF has been linked to a history of alleged incidents similar to the one that occurred Sunday in Villa Park.

In June 2002, ALF claimed responsibility for vandalizing the Lake Forest home of an individual employed as the manager of an animal testing lab, explained Rice, who added that nobody was hurt as a result of the alleged incident, which remains under investigation.