PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputies reviewing security footage of a weekend copper theft from an electrical substation may not have identified a suspect Monday, but they learned the person they are looking for probably has burns.
On Monday, Clallam County Public Utility District employees and deputies reviewed security footage which showed the suspect cut into a grounding wire on a regulator and get enveloped in an electrical arc, Detective Sgt. John Keegan said in a Monday news release.
PUD employees told deputies the suspect should have burns in the areas of his face, neck and hands, and also that hair should be missing from those areas, Keegan said.
Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron said the potential severity of the burns indicate the thief may have had help in leaving the scene.
“He’s got to be hurting. I believe there was more than one person involved in this theft,” Cameron said.
Cameron said there were some difficulties in meshing the video system with Sheriff’s Office computers, but a deputy was able to work through the frames of the video to review the suspect’s activities inside the fenced substation.
The video shows a person wearing a hoodie moving between various parts of the substation removing copper wire.
The theft of 100 feet of copper wire from the substation blew out three voltage regulators and cut power to about 2,000 customers west of the city at 1 a.m. Saturday.
When one of the grounding wires was cut, it made contact with a regulator, causing a short circuit in the system.
The short circuit damaged two other regulators and sparked the power outage for the Elwha Valley.
The cost of the damage to the 3-year-old substation was estimated to be $120,000, including the cost of new wire, damaged parts and overtime for repair crews.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information can phone the Sheriff’s Office at 360-417-2459.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
