Washington burglars take out three power substations on Christmas, leave 14K without electricity

Burglars in Tacoma, Washington, vandalized three power stations on Christmas morning, leaving about 14,000 customers without electricity, according to police.

At about 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a burglary at the Tacoma Public Utilities Substation on 46th Avenue.

When deputies arrived, a statement from the department read, they saw evidence that a fenced area was broken into. While nothing was taken from the substation, police said equipment was vandalized, causing a power outage in the area.

Another burglary was reported later that morning at a Tacoma Public Utilities substation on 224th Street, again with forced entry and damage to the equipment, and nothing stolen from the scene.

At 11:25 a.m. a third burglary was reported by Puget Sound Energy of a power outage and burglary that occurred at about 2:40 a.m.

Deputies said the third scene was broken into as well, and the equipment was vandalized.

As a result of the burglaries and vandalism that took place, 14,000 Tacoma residents were without power on Sunday morning.

The website poweroutage.us reported just before 7 p.m. on Sunday that only 2,084 Tacoma Public Utilities customers and 1,365 Puget Sound Energy customers were without power.

All three burglaries remain under investigation, and suspects have not been apprehended.