A suspect or suspects intentionally tried to shut down local electricity and communication services when they fired gunshots at a PG&E substation and severed two fiber optic lines in south San Jose early Tuesday morning, according to Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith.
And AT&T, the owner of the damaged fiber optic lines, announced late Tuesday night that the company is offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for cutting the cables.
The vandalism of the underground fiber optic lines in two separate locations along Monterey Road near Metcalf Road disrupted local phone services, starting about 1:20 a.m., Smith said Tuesday night.
Then about 20 minutes later, San Jose police received calls reporting shots fired near the PG&E substation on Monterey Road, also near Metcalf Road, Smith said. Investigators later determined those gunshots – from a “high-powered rifle” – inflicted damage to the electricity equipment at the power station.
Smith said it’s “just a preliminary suspicion” that the same suspect or suspects are responsible for both incidents, and detectives continue to investigate the vandalism.
“The reason we believe they’re related is geographical proximity and timeframe” of the incidents, Smith said.
No suspects have yet been identified.
The damage to the fiber optic cables – which were cut in two separate locations less than half a mile apart – disrupted some cellular and landline phone service for customers of various telecommunications companies throughout South County, according to authorities.
By early Wednesday morning, all phone services were restored in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and surrounding areas, according to George Ross, spokesman for AT&T, the owner of the vandalized fiber optic cables.
The outage initially disrupted service to 911 dispatch centers – including Gilroy’s – but providers were able to re-route some lines to restore those services, authorities said.
For some, the lack of landline service was more of a disruption to commerce than communication, as retail businesses and restaurants depend on the phone systems to run credit card and ATM transactions.
At Rosy’s At The Beach in downtown Morgan Hill, service slowed down some due to the outage Tuesday night, which was busy, according to restaurant owner Rosy Bergin.
“We weren’t able to run credit cards like we’re used to, so we had to manually take the credit card information,” she said.
AT&T is offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects who cut the fiber optic lines.
The vandalism at the PG&E facility did not result in any power outages, but caused the transmission substation to run at “less than capacity” Tuesday, according to PG&E spokesman Jason King.
The gunshots also caused a hazardous material spill that PG&E and County crews spent most of Tuesday morning cleaning, according to King. The gunshots damaged five transformers at the site, which as a result leaked oil used to keep the equipment at the substation cool.
The cleanup continued Wednesday afternoon, according to Sheriff’s Deputy Kurtis Stenderup.
Smith said there is no doubt that all of the PG&E and fiber optic damage was done deliberately.
“We believe the person had knowledge of what was critical at the substation, and what to cut on the fiber optic cables,” Smith said.
She added that a fence surrounding the Metcalf Road substation had been intentionally cut open to allow at least one person to pass into the facility’s security perimeter.
Detectives have also found shell casings near the crime scene, Smith said.
Experts have told investigators that by cutting the fiber optic cables in two places instead of just one, the vandal or vandals demonstrated a knowledge of how to cause an optimal level of service disruption, Stenderup added.
A similar act of vandalism happened in April 2009, when an unknown suspect or suspects cut a total of 10 fiber optic lines – also owned by AT&T – in San Jose and San Carlos. That incident resulted in almost a total loss of all landline, cellular and Internet connectivity in South County for nearly 24 hours. No arrests have been made in relation to that incident.
Stenderup said investigators have discussed the possibility that Tuesday’s vandalism might be related to the 2009 incident, but it’s too early to make any conclusions.
At the time of the 2009 incident, AT&T and the Communication Workers of America, which represents a large segment of AT&T employees, were in the midst of a labor dispute. Some in the media speculated that might have been a motive in that vandalism.
However, AT&T has told sheriff’s staff that the company is not currently in a dispute with the unions, Stenderup said.
In fact, CWA members in northern California are in the process of ratifying a “tentative agreement” for a four-year contract with AT&T by mail ballot, according to CWA District 9 Area Director Libby Sayre. The results of that balloting are expected to be in by May 1.
The CWA is also bargaining with Verizon, mostly for employees in Southern California, Sayre added. Those negotiations are “ongoing.”
The most recent contract between AT&T and the CWA expired about a year ago, Sayre said. The contract with Verizon expired recently.
