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

CNN
—

About 14,000 customers in Puyallup and Graham, Wash., were affected Sunday after burglars vandalized three electrical substations owned by Tacoma Public Utilities and Puget Sound Energy, police said.

No suspects are currently in custody, 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 utility substation at 5:26 a.m. PT.

“Deputies arrived at the scene and saw that there was a forced entry into the fenced area,” the statement said. “Nothing had been removed from the substation, but the suspect vandalized the equipment causing a power outage in the area.”

Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputies were alerted to a report of a second burglary at another Tacoma utility substation, which was also the subject of a forced entry with damage to equipment, according to the release. Similar to the first substation, nothing was taken.

“At 11:25 a.m. we were notified by Puget Sound Energy that they too had a power outage this morning at 2:39 a.m. Deputies are currently at the scene of this facility where the fenced area was broken into and equipment vandalized” , continues the press release.

“At the moment, deputies are carrying out the initial investigation. We have no suspects in custody. It is unclear if there are motives or if this was a coordinated attack on electrical systems,” the statement read.

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

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