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

CNN
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About 14,000 customers in Puyallup and Graham, Washington, were affected Sunday after the robbers Sabotaging three power substations Police said it belonged to Tacoma Public Utilities and Puget Sound Energy.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department added in a statement Sunday that no suspects are in custody at this time.

The sheriff’s department said their agency first received a report of a burglary at a Tacoma utility substation at 5:26 a.m. PST.

“The deputies arrived at the scene of the accident and saw the forcible storming of the fenced area,” the statement added. “Nothing was taken from the substation, but the suspect sabotaged the equipment, causing power outages in the area,” he added.

Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies were alerted to a report of a second robbery at another public utility substation in Tacoma, which also resulted in forced entry with equipment damaged, the statement said. Similar to the first substation, nothing was taken.

“At 11:25 we were notified by Puget Sound Energy that they also had a power outage this morning at 02:39 a.m. Deputies are currently at this facility as the fenced area was broken into and equipment was vandalized.”

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

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

The city of Puyallup is located 10 miles south of Tacoma. Graham is located 16 miles south of Tacoma.