Video shows suspected vandal cutting fiber line, thousands lose internet and phone service
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Thousands of residents in the Pikes Peak region were without internet and phone service for much of Wednesday. 13 Investigates is learning it was all caused by an act of vandalism, caught on a nearby businesses surveillance video.
The video, taken just after 3:30 A.M. Wednesday morning, shows an orange or red Dodge pickup truck enter an alleyway between Colorado Ave and E Cucharras St, just east of downtown Colorado Springs. Moments later, a person exits the truck on the sidewalk of E Chucharras St and takes a power tool to the service line located underground.
"Times are tough right now. I can assume maybe it was a scrapping type of event, could have been vandalism. It's really hard to speculate though," Patrick Bendele, the construction coordinator on scene, said.
Another angle of the surveillance video shows the suspected vandal get out of the same truck and steal a bumper from a car from a local auto body shop.
Roughly 20,000 residents and businesses were impacted by the outage, including Manitou Springs School District 14 which had to cancel classes Wednesday.
According to Comcast, the general locations of outages are mostly homes and businesses west of Downtown Colorado Springs and I-25, near Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, and south towards the Broadmoor area.
"It's quite a huge impact. Plus, all your city downtown network, your businesses, courthouses, police stations. You get the gamut of it," Bendele said.
The business owner tells 13 Investigates they have turned the video over to the Colorado Springs Police Department. At last check, CSPD tells 13 Investigates they will investigate the incident if the vandalism is determined to be a "deliberate act."
