The first bomb went off about 5:40 a.m. Saturday, destroying a car outside the home of a UC Santa Cruz researcher. Authorities have not named the researcher.
Three minutes later and less than a mile away, a second device exploded on the front porch of researcher David Feldheim's home while he and his family were asleep. As the house filled with smoke, the scientist, his wife and their children, ages 2 and 4, escaped out a window and down an emergency ladder. Feldheim injured his feet during his escape.
Both devices were incendiary, police said, but it was unclear how they were triggered. Also unknown is how many people were involved in carrying out the attacks.
UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal said the episodes were an attempt to stop valuable medical research.
"I think it's a form of domestic terrorism intended to intimidate people," the chancellor said. "These are incidents that could have killed someone. They are obviously intended to prevent researchers from pursuing the advancement of knowledge. They are a serious attack on academic freedom."
Police said pamphlets with the names and home addresses of some UC Santa Cruz researchers were found at a Santa Cruz coffee shop four days before the bombings.
The attacks were similar to others since 2006 on the homes and vehicles of animal researchers at UCLA, including one bomb that was mistakenly placed at a researcher's neighbor's house but did not detonate. In October, attackers flooded the home of a UCLA scientist who conducts studies using monkeys, causing more than $20,000 in damage. In June, animal rights activists claimed responsibility for setting an unoccupied UCLA carpool van on fire while it was parked at UC Irvine.
At UC Santa Cruz in February, a group of six masked protesters attempted to force their way into a researcher's home while the family was having a birthday party for a child.
At UC Berkeley, activists have mounted a "relentless" campaign of harassing animal researchers at their homes and in public places on dozens of occasions, said university spokeswoman Marie Felde. In one case, a group of activists showed up at a researcher's child's soccer game and shouted that the researcher was an "animal murderer," she said.
University officials also have reported cases of harassment at UC Davis, UC San Francisco and UC Santa Barbara. The 10-campus university system is sponsoring state legislation designed to restrict protesters' ability to harass university researchers.
