Federal prosecutors have charged two men with breaking into four Washington state electrical substations on Christmas Day and flipping switches that shut off power to over 15,000 people and caused about $3 million in damage, according to a news release.
(Bloomberg) — Federal prosecutors have charged two men with breaking into four Washington state electrical substations on Christmas Day and flipping switches that shut off power to over 15,000 people and caused about $3 million in damage, according to a news release.
The Christmas Day attacks came after a string of grid assaults, including gunfire that damaged two North Carolina substations and left about 45,000 people in the dark, amid an unusual uptick of violence against US electrical infrastructure.
Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, were arrested Saturday after investigators tracked their cell phone records and allegedly matched their pickup truck and clothes to surveillance footage. After his arrest, Greenwood told investigators the men wanted to disrupt the power supply so they could burglarize a business. While the power was out, the men allegedly went to a local business, drilled out a lock and stole from the cash register, according to the criminal complaint. Contact information for their defense attorneys wasn’t immediately available.
“We have seen attacks such as these increase in Western Washington and throughout the country and must treat each incident seriously,” Nick Brown, the US Attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement.
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