Washington man pleads guilty to vandalizing 4 substations and knocking out power for 14,000 people o
Also: Puyallup, Washington man pleads guilty to conspiring to attack power substations (U.S. Attorney's Office - Western District of Washington)
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Source: CBS News
Washington man pleads guilty to vandalizing 4 substations and knocking out power for 14,000 people on Christmas
BY CARA TABACHNICK
APRIL 28, 2023 / 5:43 PM / CBS NEWS
A Washington man pleaded guilty in federal court to vandalizing four power substations in Tacoma, Washington, that knocked out power to more than 14,000 customers on Christmas, the Department of Justice said in a news release on Friday.
Matthew Greenwood, 32, of Puyallup said in his plea that he and Jeremy Crahan, 40, vandalized the substations and plotted to fell trees to take out power lines.
Four substations were attacked: Kapowsin and Graham substations in Graham, Washington, operated by Tacoma Power, Elk Plain substation in Spanaway, Washington, and Hemlock Substation in Puyallup, Washington, the Department of Justice said.
The first substation, located in Spanaway and belonging to Tacoma Public Utilities, was attacked on December 25, 2022, around 5:30 a.m. local time, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.
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Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/washington-man-pleads-guilty-to-vandalizing-4-substations/
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Source: U.S. Attorney's Office - Western District of Washington
PRESS RELEASE
Puyallup, Washington man pleads guilty to conspiring to attack power substations
Friday, April 28, 2023
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For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington
Vandalism over Christmas holiday left thousands without power
Tacoma – A 32-year-old Puyallup, Washington man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to Conspiracy to destroy energy facilities, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Matthew Greenwood admits in his plea agreement that he and co-defendant Jeremy Crahan, 40, vandalized four power substations and plotted to fell trees to take out power lines. Both men were arrested before the tree plan was put into action. Greenwood faces up to twenty years in prison when sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo on July 21, 2023.
According to the facts in the plea agreement, Greenwood and Crahan hatched the scheme to disrupt power so they could break into ATMs and businesses and steal money. On December 25, 2022, they damaged four substations:
• Hemlock Substation in Puyallup, Washington, owned by Puget Sound Energy. Here, the two cut through a fence and Greenwood manipulated a switch damaging equipment and cutting power for 8,000 customers.
• Elk Plain substation in Spanaway, Washington, owned by Tacoma Power. The men cut padlocks on the gate and Greenwood manipulated breakers to damage equipment and cause an outage
• Graham substation in Graham, Washington, operated by Tacoma Power. The men cut through a perimeter fence and Greenwood manipulated a switch to damage equipment. This outage, combined with the Elk Plain substation outage, caused more than 7,500 customers to lose power.
• Kapowsin Substation in Graham, Washington, operated by Puget Sound Energy. The men cut through a fence and Greenwood tampered with a switch causing sparks, flame, and a power outage.
Following the December 25, 2022, substation vandalism, the men spent time looking for additional ways to cause power outages by felling trees. The goal was to cut power so that they could burglarize businesses and steal from ATMs. Law enforcement arrested them before they could put the tree plan into action.
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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/puyallup-washington-man-pleads-guilty-conspiring-attack-power-substations