The utilities affected in those cases - Portland General Electric, the Bonneville Power Administration and Puget Sound Energy - said they were working with the FBI. In one of the attacks, two people cut through a fence surrounding a high-voltage substation and then shot several pieces of equipment. Attackers used firearms in at least some of the incidents and some power customers in Oregon temporarily lost service. They are also charged with possession of an unregistered firearm.Īt least four electrical substations were targeted in earlier attacks in Oregon and Washington beginning in late November.
Prosecutors will ask for the two men to remain detained at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac. The two men face up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to attack energy facilities and up to ten years in prison or possession of an unregistered firearm. When he was arrested, Greenwood had several articles of clothing that matched images of one of the suspects in surveillance images, and agents found him to have two unregistered short-barreled weapons, the complaint said. "This makes it at least unlikely that an individual would simply happen to be at all four locations around the times they were each vandalized." "The substations are spread out over dozens of miles the attacks occurred early in the morning and in the evening and the first and fourth attacks were separated by over twelve hours," the complaint said. 3 and they appeared to be sharing a home in Puyallup, he said.
Greenwood and Crahan were identified as suspects because location data showed cellphones linked to them to be in the vicinity of all four incidents, FBI Special Agent Mark Tucher wrote in the complaint. At the Kapowsin substation, their actions cause arcing and sparking, the complaint said. In each case, they used bolt cutters to access the properties and manipulated switches to knock out power. The complaint said transformers at the Tacoma Power substations would have to be replaced and damage was estimated to be at least $3 million.Īccording to the complaint, the pair hit the first three substations early on Christmas Day, then struck the last - the Kapowsin substation - that evening. The four substations targeted were the Graham and Elk Plain substations operated by Tacoma Power and the Kapowsin and Hemlock substations operated by Puget Sound Energy. Federal prosecutors are seeking to have them remain in custody pending trial. Greenwood faces a detention hearing Friday, Crahan on Tuesday. "The outages on Christmas left thousands in the dark and cold and put some who need power for medical devices at extreme risk."Īttorneys who represented the men at their appearances in federal court did not immediately return emails seeking comment on the case. Attorney Nick Brown said in a news release. "We have seen attacks such as these increase in Western Washington and throughout the country and must treat each incident seriously," Seattle U.S. Agents said they also seized two short barreled firearms, one with a makeshift silencer, that had not been registered.
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