BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Spectrum service boxes like this one are being targeted in a surge of vandalism across Bakersfield and Kern County. Police say vandals gain nothing from targeting these service boxes, while thousands risk losing phone and 911 access.<\/p>\n
If your Spectrum phone or internet service has gone out in the last couple of months, there may be an explanation for that. Bakersfield Police and Spectrum report at least 53 incidents of vandalism to fiber-optic service boxes since October 16th, disrupting service for thousands of customers.<\/p>\n
Denise Feudner is the Senior Director of Corporate Physical Security for Spectrum and she says, \u201cWe have had 44 instances of batteries being stolen from our power supply cabinets. We\u2019ve had five instances of our fiber lines being cut and five other instances of vandalism to our power supplies where batteries weren\u2019t stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question is why.<\/p>\n
Spectrum says there may be several reasons behind the battery thefts, including that the batteries may be stolen and sold, possibly to local recyclers. Others may believe there is copper inside the fiber-optic lines \u2014 even though there isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen these batteries or these lines are cut, our ability to provide critical services to our internet customers is affected.\u201d Denise Feudner said. <\/p>\n
Spectrum says they are offering a 25-thousand-dollar reward for information that leads to an arrest in these cases.<\/p>\n
Sergeant Eric Celedon, with the Bakersfield Police Department, says,
\u201cIf you see somebody lingering around the utility boxes, keep an eye on them and take a photo. Even if they\u2019re not outright doing something, just be careful out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police say these cases could lead to charges including theft and vandalism. Investigators also say, depending on the circumstances, some cases could fall under California\u2019s new Prop 36, which toughens penalties for repeat property crimes.<\/p>\n
Anyone with information is asked to contact police or Spectrum\u2019s tip line at 833-404-TIPS (8477)<\/p>\n
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Spectrum service boxes like this one are being targeted in a surge of vandalism…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[35773,4385,4954,151,155,153,152,26230,57713,37118,166],"class_list":["post-107012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-35773","tag-4385","tag-authorities","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-downtown","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-box","tag-boxes","tag-cell","tag-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}