SEATTLE (AP) – Two men have been arrested and charged with vandalizing an electrical substation in Washington state, an attack that left thousands without power during the holiday season, and one suspect told authorities he did it to gain access to businesses and steal money, the U.S. authorities said Tuesday.
Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, both of Puyallup, were arrested Saturday and made initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Tuesday.
A newly unsealed complaint charges both with conspiracy to destroy energy facilities, and charges Greenwood with possession of a short-barreled rifle and a short-barreled shotgun. Cell phone location data and other evidence linked to attacks on four substations in Pierce County, the complaint states.
The attack on December 25 left more than 15,000 customers without power. Officials have warned that the US power grid needs better security to prevent domestic terrorism and after a major outage in North Carolina last month it will take days to repair.
According to the complaint, Greenwood told investigators after the arrest that the two lost power so they could burglarize the business and steal from the cash register. The business was not identified in the complaint.
“We have seen attacks like this increase in Western Washington and across the country and must treat each incident seriously,” said Seattle US Attorney Nick Brown in a news release. “The Christmas blackout left thousands in the dark and cold and put some people who need power for medical equipment at extreme risk.”
Attorneys representing the men in federal court appearances did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the case. Greenwood faces a detention hearing on Friday, Crahan on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors are seeking to keep him in custody pending trial.
The four substations targeted are the Graham and Elk Plain substations operated by Tacoma Power and the Kapowsin and Hemlock substations operated by Puget Sound Energy. The complaint states that the transformer at the Tacoma Power substation needs to be replaced and damages are estimated to be at least $3 million.
According to the complaint, the pair attacked the first three substations on Christmas Day, then attacked the last one — the Kapowsin substation — that evening. In each case, they use bolt cutters to access properties and manipulate switches to defeat power. At the Kapowsin substation, that action caused arcing and sparking, the complaint said.
Greenwood and Crahan were identified as suspects because location data showed cellphones linked to them were in the vicinity of the four incidents, FBI Special Agent Mark Tucher wrote in the complaint. Agents surveilled him from Dec. 27 to Jan. 3 and appeared to be sharing a home in Puyallup, he said.
“The station was spread over dozens of miles; the attacks took place in the morning and evening; and the first and fourth attacks were separated by more than twelve hours,” the complaint said. “This ensures that at least one person will be in all four locations when each is destroyed.”
When he was arrested, Greenwood had several articles of clothing that matched the image of one of the suspects in the surveillance image, and agents found him in possession of two unregistered short-barreled weapons, the complaint said.
Conspiracy to attack an energy facility is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Possession of an unregistered firearm is punishable by up to 10 years.
At least four power substations were targeted in previous attacks in Oregon and Washington since late November. Attackers used firearms in at least some of the incidents and some power customers in Oregon temporarily lost service. In one of the attacks, two men cut through the fence surrounding a high-voltage substation and then shot at some equipment.
The utilities affected in the case — Portland General Electric, Bonneville Power Administration and Puget Sound Energy — said they were working with the FBI.