Tacoma police have arrested five people for trying to break into a power vault on city property.
Investigators said the suspects were arrested Monday night before they were able to gain access to the vault. At this time, police are still trying to figure out why they were trying to get into that power vault, but prosecutors said in court Tuesday afternoon the power vault helped provide telecommunications for South Sound 911.
All five suspects are facing charges of burglary and malicious mischief after Tacoma police caught them trying to break into a city power vault using a grinder on the 4500 block of South Tyler Street in south Tacoma.
Police arrested Karly Kristine Johnson, Megan Nicole Mistretta, Richard Dewey Edvalds, Michael Thomas Vaughn, and Dana Andrew Woolsey for burglary and vandalism. According to court documents, Woolsey is also facing charges for possessing a firearm that had serial numbers removed, which officers recovered on the scene.
According to court documents, “Police were called because security was watching 5 subjects on camera trying to gain access to a power vault.”
The property is closed to the public, with the only access blocked by concrete blocks, and the tower is fenced in, so it’s unclear to police how the suspects even knew how to access the vault.
“The suspects had a portable grinder, and they were trying to grind through to access the interior of the power vault,” Tacoma Police Public Information Officer Wendy Haddow said, “Luckily, officers arrived before that could happen, so the damage to the exterior was minimal.”
Police say the suspects only caused several hundred dollars in damage. Officers also found gloves, lighters, drugs, and weapons, including a gun and a knife, with the suspects.
“At this time, we don’t know their intentions, whether it was to gain access to wiring for resale, or whether they were trying to damage infrastructure,” Haddow said.
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