VENTURA : Planned Parenthood Facility Attacked

The lobby window of a Ventura abortion clinic was shattered over the weekend by a small, crudely fashioned explosive device, authorities said Monday.

The waiting room at the Planned Parenthood center on Ralston Street was littered with broken glass, but no one was injured in the incident, which occurred while the building was vacant between 7 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

“I would call it prank level, but we treat all explosive devices as being serious,” Ventura Police Lt. A. J. Farrar said.

“It’s lucky no one was hurt, because we have people here after hours sometimes,” said center director April Fernandez.

Ventura police, summoned by an employee who discovered the shattered window Sunday, initially suspected that it was broken with a blunt object.

Upon closer inspection Monday, investigators discovered a black powdery residue on the window frame and glass. Samples were forwarded to a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms lab in Los Angeles for identification.

Vern Alstot, a city Fire Department investigator, said the window could not have been broken by a rock. “There was significant enough force to impale shards of glass in the wall” 12 feet across the lobby, he said.

Planned Parenthood moved into the building near the Ventura County Government Center in January, consolidating its former Oxnard and west Ventura offices. It provides birth-control supplies, pregnancy tests, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, sterilizations and other services, along with abortions.

The center has been the target of occasional small anti-abortion demonstrations, Fernandez said.