The offer of a $250,000 reward has produced nothing in the way
of evidence or leads in the investigation of acts of vandalism that
led to a massive phone and Internet outage in Santa Clara County
earlier this year.
The offer of a $250,000 reward has produced nothing in the way of evidence or leads in the investigation of acts of vandalism that led to a massive phone and Internet outage in Santa Clara County earlier this year.
San Carlos Police, who are investigating the intentional severing of four underground fiber optic cables in that city, are in a “holding pattern” with their investigation.
“Despite the very generous reward, it has generated no leads to my knowledge,” said San Carlos Police Cmdr. Rich Cinfio.
The April 9 incident in which a total of 10 high-capacity communication lines were vandalized in the South Bay left more than 52,000 Verizon customers without land-line service in southern Santa Clara County from 1:30 a.m. to about 8 p.m.
The telecommunications outage also affected an untold number of wireless customers on various carriers and South Valley Internet subscribers. It slowed commerce as many banks that rely on phone lines to process ATM transactions had to close for the day, and retail stores could not accept credit cards until telecommunications were restored.
In the resulting absence of 911 service, public safety agencies relied on their eyes and ears, setting up outposts at high-traffic areas to facilitate citizen contact. Firefighters watched for smoke from hilltops.
In high-profile cases such as this one, which is isolated with a specific target, Cinfio said police typically rely on media coverage and reward offers to generate leads. Because that hasn’t happened in this case, police will continue to wait.
“Time results in someone or new information coming forward,” Cinfio said.
AT&T, who owns all 10 lines that were vandalized, plans to keep the unclaimed $250,000 reward on the table for at least one year following the incident, said company spokesman John Britton.
“From our point of view, we would love to know who did that and see them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Britton said. “It was more than an attack on our network. It was a horrible act against many people and many communities.”
In addition to the fiber optic cables cut in two locations on Old County Road in San Carlos, six more similar lines were cut in San Jose. Those cables were also underground, in two different spots near the intersection of Blossom Hill Road and Monterey Highway.
San Jose Police also have not had much luck in their investigation. Sgt. Ronnie Lopez said no leads or evidence have materialized in connection with the vandalism.
Police have said the lines in San Jose were cut first at about 1:30 a.m., with the severing of the cables in San Carlos following about two hours later.
No similar incidents have occurred in San Jose, San Carlos, or anywhere on AT&T’s network since the April 9 vandalism. Britton said occasionally phone lines get physically disconnected, but usually by accident.
Britton declined to elaborate on any specific or additional security measures AT&T has put into place to prevent future similar attacks.
“We don’t want to make it easy for anyone to do anything like this, but we are constantly vigilant about this, and police are vigilant too,” Britton said.
He added that AT&T has a “very extensive system” in place to protect its telecommunication infrastructure network.
The lines that were cut were leased from AT&T by Verizon and other carriers. Each cable, situated about eight to 10 feet underground, contained bundles of hundreds of hair-sized glass fibers. Each of those strands had the capacity to carry about 300 to 400 telephone calls, Britton explained days after the outage.
Areas of San Benito and Santa Cruz counties were also affected by the outage.
Police and the public did not report any emergencies during the outage that were aggravated by the lack of phones.
