Police investigate loss of telephone service
State police are investigating after someone entered two locked underground Verizon vaults and shut down service to much of North Union Township Wednesday.
According to Trooper Timothy Kirsch, the state police station was without phone or computer service for 21 hours as a result of the incidents at vaults located on Route 119 and on Main Street in Lemont Furnace.
Kirsch said that police are investigating how the suspects gained access to the vaults because they were not damaged and whoever accessed them had to have used a key.
The shutdown coincides with a nationwide strike by more than 45,000 Verizon workers and has led investigators to suspect someone with access to the vaults is responsible.
Kirsch said that the actions of the suspect or suspects “caused a substantial interruption and impairment of public communication and public service” and noted that because of those circumstances the crime is considered a felony.
He said that the interruption resulted in a loss of data, communication and cellphone service for about 29 hours in much of the Lemont Furnace area and said that the loss of phone service at the police station put the county at increased risk.
Kirsch said that police intend to follow all leads in the case and anticipate making arrests in the future.
Additionally, Verizon announced Friday that the FBI has been called to investigate the incident in Fayette County, as well as similar acts of sabotage in several other states since the strike began Aug. 7.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call police at 724-439-7111.