2 arrested in electrical substation attacks in Wash. Search for suspects in nationwide attacks continues.

Staff and wire reports
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This photos shows the gate to the Duke Energy West End substation in Moore County, N.C. on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. Tens of thousands were without power in the county after what authorities say was an act of criminal vandalism at multiple substations. The Pilot newspaper in Southern Pines reported that infrastructure at the West End substation was damaged.

SEATTLE –Two men have been arrested and charged with vandalizing electrical substations in Washington state, attacks that left thousands without power over the holidays, and one suspect told authorities they did it so they could break into a business and steal money, U.S. authorities said Tuesday.

Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, both of Puyallup, were arrested Saturday and set to appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Tuesday.

A newly unsealed complaint charged both with conspiracy to damage energy facilities, and it charged Greenwood with possession of a short-barreled rifle and a short-barreled shotgun. Cellphone location data and other evidence tied them to the attacks on the four substations in Pierce County, the complaint said.

The attacks on Dec. 25 left more than 15,000 customers without power. Officials have warned that the U.S. power grid needs better security to prevent domestic terrorism and after a large outage in North Carolina last month took days to repair.

According to the complaint, Greenwood told investigators after his arrest that the two knocked out power so they could burglarize a business and steal from the cash register.

Attacks on power substations are growing: Why is the electric grid so hard to protect?

“We have seen attacks such as these increase in Western Washington and throughout the country and must treat each incident seriously,” Seattle U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said in a news release. “The outages on Christmas left thousands in the dark and cold and put some who need power for medical devices at extreme risk.”

It was not immediately clear if the men had attorneys who might speak on their behalf.

Greenwood and Crahan were identified as suspects because location data showed cellphones linked to them to be in the vicinity of all four incidents, FBI Special Agent Mark Tucher wrote in the complaint. Agents surveilled them from Dec. 27 to Jan. 3 and they appeared to be sharing a home in Puyallup, he said.

“The substations are spread out over dozens of miles; the attacks occurred early in the morning and in the evening; and the first and fourth attacks were separated by over twelve hours,” the complaint said. “This makes it at least unlikely that an individual would simply happen to be at all four locations around the times they were each vandalized.”

When he was arrested, Greenwood had several articles of clothing that matched images of one of the suspects in surveillance images, and agents found him to have two unregistered short-barreled weapons, the complaint said.

Here's a look at some recent high-profile attacks on U.S. infrastructure and where those cases stand:

Dec. 3 North Carolina attack

Officials said a "targeted attack" on two substations in Moore County, North Carolina left tens of thousands of residents without power during freezing weather. The state's investigation bureau and the Moore County Sheriff's office are investigating the incident. The sheriff's office said last week no arrests had been made. 

Another substation was also vandalized in the state in November. 

November attacks in Oregon and Washington

At least four electrical substations were targeted in earlier attacks in Oregon and Washington beginning in late November. Attackers used firearms in at least some of the incidents and some power customers in Oregon temporarily lost service.

In one of the attacks, two people cut through a fence surrounding a high-voltage substation and then shot several pieces of equipment.

The utilities affected in those cases –Portland General Electric, the Bonneville Power Administration and Puget Sound Energy – said they were working with the FBI.

Tampa Bay and other Florida stations, Sept. 10-22

Duke Energy experienced at least six "intrusions" at several of its substations throughout Florida throughout September last year, according to a report filed to the U.S. Department of Energy reported by WFLA.

The intrusions caused at least two outages, the station reported.

One related arrest was confirmed by a Duke Energy spokesperson.

Contributing: Gene Johnson, Associated Press; Grace Hauck, Dina Voyles Pulver, N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Thao Nguyen, Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2 charged in Washington Christmas day electrical substation attacks