After burglars vandalized three energy substations in Pierce County, Washington, on Sunday, power was knocked out for even more homes after a suspect or suspects entered a fourth substation, vandalized the equipment, and caused a fire, according to an update from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
According to police, the damaged equipment cut power to approximately 14,000 customers, weeks after an attack in North Carolina left thousands without power for days, despite federal warnings of extremist threats to electricity infrastructure.
The Christmas Day vandalism near Tacoma was one of several in the state, with the FBI investigating two November attacks on Puget Sound Energy substations. Vandalism and intentional damage were reported at substations in southern Washington and Oregon last month.
There are no suspects in the latest case affecting Puyallup and Graham, Washington, and it is not known if there had been any motive or if the incident was a coordinated attack on the power systems, according to a statement issued by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department on Sunday.
The FBI’s Seattle Division was aware of the vandalism reports but would not confirm or deny its involvement in any investigation, saying only that they did take threats against their infrastructure seriously and urged anyone with information to contact law enforcement. According to the alert sent to private industry, the bureau warned of reports of threats to electricity infrastructure by people espousing racially or ethnically motivated extremist ideology “to create civil disorder and inspire further violence” in a bulletin on November 22.
Tacoma Public Utilities stated on Monday that all customers should have power restored by the afternoon. Two electrical substations were shot up earlier this month in North Carolina, causing tens of thousands of customers to lose power and prompting local officials to declare a state of emergency. No one was arrested as a result of the attacks.
The sheriff’s office said the first report of a burglary at a Tacoma Public Utilities substation came at 5:26 a.m. PT. Then, according to the statement, a second burglary was reported at another Tacoma Public Utilities substation, with forced entry and equipment damage. Likewise, nothing was taken. Then, according to the statement, a second burglary was reported at another Tacoma Public Utilities substation, with forced entry and equipment damage. Likewise, nothing was taken at both stations.
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