NAACP Weighs State, U.S. Help in Vandalism Probe

The Ventura County chapter of the NAACP on Monday said it would ask for state and federal intervention if investigators do not make arrests within one month in the racial vandalism of a black family’s home in Simi Valley.

Chapter President John R. Hatcher said he would ask for action by the U.S. and California attorney generals if the Simi Valley Police Department and the FBI, which are now investigating the incident, do not locate suspects in the August attack on the home of the Louis Boss family.

The family discovered the damage Aug. 14 when they returned from a four-day cross-country trip. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

“They’re trying to play it off as a prank by a bunch of kids,” Hatcher said.

About 35 people attended the regular monthly meeting of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People at True Spirit Community Church in Simi Valley, the highest attendance in several months. Members attributed the turnout to concern over the Boss case.

A five-member committee was formed to meet with the family of Boss, a Northridge Junior High School teacher, and ask what they need to repair their home, which was heavily vandalized and defaced by racial epithets.

Hatcher complained that the attack on the Boss family was only the latest in a series of racially motivated crimes throughout Ventura County in the last two years. Hatcher said he also believes there is a pattern of job discrimination throughout the county.

Some of those attending the meeting Monday night recounted incidents in which they said they were the victims of racially oriented discrimination or violence.

Although Hatcher cited the vandalism as an example of racial hatred in Simi Valley, the incident has evoked an outpouring of community support for the Boss family. Neighbors and others have offered to help the family repair the house; the Rotary and Kiwanis have contributed $2,500 toward a reward for information leading to an arrest, and the Simi Valley Unified School District last week began discussing whether to increase attention to race relations in its curriculum.