About 14,000 customers were affected after substations in Tacoma were vandalized by burglars

CNN
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About 14,000 customers in Puyallup and Graham, Wash., were affected Sunday after burglars vandalized three power stations belonging to Tacoma Public Utilities and Puget Sound Energy, police said.

No suspects are in custody at this time, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department added in a statement Sunday.

The sheriff’s department said their agency first received a report of a burglary at the Tacoma Public Utilities substation at 5:26 a.m. PT.

“Officers arrived at the scene and observed forced entry into the fenced area,” according to the statement. “Nothing had been taken from the substation, but the suspect vandalized the equipment and caused a power outage in the area.”

Pierce County Sheriff Deputies were alerted to a report of a second burglary at another Tacoma Public Utilities substation, which also had forced entry with damage to equipment, the statement said. Like the first substation, nothing was taken.

“At 11:25 a.m. we were notified by Puget Sound Energy that they also had an outage this morning at 2:39 a.m. Representatives are currently on scene at this facility where the fenced area was broken into and equipment vandalized,” it said in the statement.

“At this time, deputies are conducting the initial investigation. We do not have any suspects in custody. It is unknown if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems,” the statement said.

The FBI’s Seattle division told CNN on Sunday it was aware of the reports but declined to confirm or deny its role in the investigation, adding: “We take threats to our infrastructure seriously and encourage anyone with information to contact law enforcement.”

The city of Puyallup is located 10 miles south of Tacoma. Graham is 26 miles south of Tacoma.