On July 20, 2015 at approximately 6:00 a.m., an employee with Frontier Communications contacted the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office to report vandalism to a fiber optic cable. A deputy responded to mile post 12 on Old Woodruff Road and discovered the line had been shot with what appears to be birdshot that was presumably fired from a shot gun.
The deputy located several spent shot gun shells in the area along with spent 9mm shells. The employee from Frontier Communications reported that when they arrived in the area, a maroon van or SUV drove away from the Woodruff Dam in what they deemed a “hurried” manner.
The case is under investigation by members of the sheriff’s office including the criminal investigations unit. The FBI has been contacted.
The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office reminds people that they can contact WETIP at 800-78CRIME or the Sheriff’s Office at (928)532-6060 or (928)524-4050 with information on a crime. Callers can remain anonymous.
In February, sabotage was suspected in the northern Arizona CenturyLink outage. The Arizona Daily Independent reported that Northern Arizona went dark when a CenturyLink link cable was cut just north of Phoenix in a remote desert location. According to authorities an apparent act of vandalism resulted in a sensitive fiber optic cable being cut.
The Washington Free Beacon (WFB) reported that those familiar with the situation claim it was clearly an act of sabotage. Whatever the case may be, the incident has raised serious concerns about the safety of U.S. infrastructure.
All incoming and outbound voice communications in Coconino County experienced an outage as well as internet access for certain locations throughout the area.