2 Arrested in Washington Power Substation Vandalism

Two men have been arrested and charged with vandalizing electrical substations in Washington State, attacks that left thousands without power over the holidays.

Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, both of Puyallup, were arrested Saturday and set to appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Tuesday. A newly unsealed complaint charged both with conspiracy to damage energy facilities, and it charged Greenwood with possession of a short-barreled rifle and a short-barreled shotgun.

Cellphone location data and other evidence tied them to the attacks on the four substations in Pierce County, the complaint said. The attacks on Dec. 25 left more than 15,000 customers without power. Officials have warned that the U.S. power grid needs better security to prevent domestic terrorism and after a large outage in North Carolina last month took days to repair.

The complaint said transformers at the Tacoma Power substations would have to be replaced and damage was estimated to be at least $3 million. Conspiracy to attack energy facilities is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Possession of an unregistered firearm is punishable by up to 10 years.