Vandals cut phone and Internet cable, cause headaches for residents, businesses and law enforcement
2:32 PM
By Christopher Quirk
Konni Thomas and Kassi Swalboski, owners of First Street Coffee, were forced to take orders by hand and deal only with cash transactions after a vandal or vandals cut a fiber optic cable about 1 a.m. this morning, effectively cutting off the majority of communication in large portions of Santa Clara, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
Photo by: Staff
Much of the Internet, phone and cellular services to Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Hollister have been interrupted after a vandal or vandals cut a fiber optic cable about 1 a.m. this morning. The outage has brought much of the cities to a standstill as many businesses are unable to process credit card orders, bank security systems are not working and residents cannot contact emergency services.
The cutting of the cable caused service problems across Santa Clara, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, according to city staff and AT&T.
"We anticipate some service restoration will begin in next few hours with repairs and rerouting efforts continuing this afternoon," AT&T posted to it's official Twitter news account at 11 a.m. "We apologize for any inconvenience this morning's service has caused. We are working on a repair. We have crews on the scene."
AT&T told the city it estimates the cable will be repaired about 6 p.m. AT&T has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the incident.
While some local calls were working as of mid-morning, cell phone calls on the Verizon, Nextel and Sprint networks were still not working and local Internet services were still out. Some calls were working on AT&T and its data plan was up.
Emergency calls to 911 were interrupted by the outage, but phone crews had plans to reroute all 911 calls through local seven-digit numbers, police dispatchers said about 11 a.m. At 9 a.m., police activated it's Emergency Operations Center to coordinate a response to the outage and stationed officers throughout the city to deal with residents' needs, according to dispatchers and a city press release.
Gilroy Police brought in five extra officers on the anti-crime team and three detectives to double the amount of officers patrolling the streets.
However, no major incidents occurred as of 2 p.m.
"There haven't been any more people coming in (to the police station) than normal," Sgt. Jim Gillio said. "We went out and notified the major institutions in town this morning. We've had nothing out of the ordinary."
Gilroy Police encouraged residents to go to the nearest police or fire station in the case of emergencies. Fire stations - which law enforcement are staffing with emergency medical personnel - are located at 7070 Chestnut St., 880 Sunrise Drive, and at the corner of Wren and Welburn avenues. The police department is at 7301 Hanna St. and Saint Louise Regional Hospital is on No Name Uno in northeast Gilroy.
Long lines formed at South Valley National Bank on First Street as security concerns heightened during the outage, said bank Manager Kurt Michielssen. Because of problems with the security system and ATMs not being operational, bank employees were only letting only one or two people into the bank at a time.
However, there had been no problems as of 11:15 a.m. and police "personally went to every bank in the city," according to a dispatcher.
Still, Chase Bank was taking precautions and was closed most of the morning.
"We've had minor power outages but nothing like this," said Chase employee Steven Quistian, who has been working there since September. "The police told us we couldn't open because of security. We've just been cleaning and having meetings until it opens again."
Quistian said his manager planned to open the bank for a few customers at a time to withdraw money and process the transactions by hand.
Meanwhile, eateries were struggling to deal with onslaught of customers. Gilroy's First Street Coffee and Subway, among other businesses, were forced to deal with cash only as their credit card systems were made inoperable
At the coffee shop, they had even turned to dealing with a much older system of credit.
"Most of our customers are repeat customers," said owner Konni Thomas. "About 25 to 35 percent of our customers said they would pay double tomorrow."
Thomas and her daughter, Kassi Swalboski, had people coming in all morning speculating on the cause of the outage. They said they heard anything from a fire to terrorist attacks. AT&T has not specuated on a motive for the vandalism and there have been no indications that the act was related to any sort of terrorist attack.
"I'm not sure why anyone would want to attack Gilroy," Swalboski said. "We've seen of new faces coming in this morning wondering what was going on. But not many are buying coffee."
While most people were accepting of the situation some were quite upset.
"We been seeing a mixed response," Swalboski said. "Some people have been mad, even at us. One guy said he lost $1,000."
Yet, for most customers, the outage was more of a disruption.
"It's hasn't affected my work but it has definitely affected my volunteer responsibilities," said Mary Beth Anderson, who works from home and does volunteer work in Gilroy. "I'm just glad I'm not trying to deliver a baby today."
"In a job place, you can live without a phone, but you can't live without the internet," said Norma Ludergnani, who planned to drive to Hollister for work today. "I don't know what the high school kids are going to do during breaks. They'll have to talk the old-fashioned way."
2:32 PM
By Christopher Quirk
Konni Thomas and Kassi Swalboski, owners of First Street Coffee, were forced to take orders by hand and deal only with cash transactions after a vandal or vandals cut a fiber optic cable about 1 a.m. this morning, effectively cutting off the majority of communication in large portions of Santa Clara, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
Photo by: Staff
Much of the Internet, phone and cellular services to Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Hollister have been interrupted after a vandal or vandals cut a fiber optic cable about 1 a.m. this morning. The outage has brought much of the cities to a standstill as many businesses are unable to process credit card orders, bank security systems are not working and residents cannot contact emergency services.
The cutting of the cable caused service problems across Santa Clara, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, according to city staff and AT&T.
"We anticipate some service restoration will begin in next few hours with repairs and rerouting efforts continuing this afternoon," AT&T posted to it's official Twitter news account at 11 a.m. "We apologize for any inconvenience this morning's service has caused. We are working on a repair. We have crews on the scene."
AT&T told the city it estimates the cable will be repaired about 6 p.m. AT&T has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the incident.
While some local calls were working as of mid-morning, cell phone calls on the Verizon, Nextel and Sprint networks were still not working and local Internet services were still out. Some calls were working on AT&T and its data plan was up.
Emergency calls to 911 were interrupted by the outage, but phone crews had plans to reroute all 911 calls through local seven-digit numbers, police dispatchers said about 11 a.m. At 9 a.m., police activated it's Emergency Operations Center to coordinate a response to the outage and stationed officers throughout the city to deal with residents' needs, according to dispatchers and a city press release.
Gilroy Police brought in five extra officers on the anti-crime team and three detectives to double the amount of officers patrolling the streets.
However, no major incidents occurred as of 2 p.m.
"There haven't been any more people coming in (to the police station) than normal," Sgt. Jim Gillio said. "We went out and notified the major institutions in town this morning. We've had nothing out of the ordinary."
Gilroy Police encouraged residents to go to the nearest police or fire station in the case of emergencies. Fire stations - which law enforcement are staffing with emergency medical personnel - are located at 7070 Chestnut St., 880 Sunrise Drive, and at the corner of Wren and Welburn avenues. The police department is at 7301 Hanna St. and Saint Louise Regional Hospital is on No Name Uno in northeast Gilroy.
Long lines formed at South Valley National Bank on First Street as security concerns heightened during the outage, said bank Manager Kurt Michielssen. Because of problems with the security system and ATMs not being operational, bank employees were only letting only one or two people into the bank at a time.
However, there had been no problems as of 11:15 a.m. and police "personally went to every bank in the city," according to a dispatcher.
Still, Chase Bank was taking precautions and was closed most of the morning.
"We've had minor power outages but nothing like this," said Chase employee Steven Quistian, who has been working there since September. "The police told us we couldn't open because of security. We've just been cleaning and having meetings until it opens again."
Quistian said his manager planned to open the bank for a few customers at a time to withdraw money and process the transactions by hand.
Meanwhile, eateries were struggling to deal with onslaught of customers. Gilroy's First Street Coffee and Subway, among other businesses, were forced to deal with cash only as their credit card systems were made inoperable
At the coffee shop, they had even turned to dealing with a much older system of credit.
"Most of our customers are repeat customers," said owner Konni Thomas. "About 25 to 35 percent of our customers said they would pay double tomorrow."
Thomas and her daughter, Kassi Swalboski, had people coming in all morning speculating on the cause of the outage. They said they heard anything from a fire to terrorist attacks. AT&T has not specuated on a motive for the vandalism and there have been no indications that the act was related to any sort of terrorist attack.
"I'm not sure why anyone would want to attack Gilroy," Swalboski said. "We've seen of new faces coming in this morning wondering what was going on. But not many are buying coffee."
While most people were accepting of the situation some were quite upset.
"We been seeing a mixed response," Swalboski said. "Some people have been mad, even at us. One guy said he lost $1,000."
Yet, for most customers, the outage was more of a disruption.
"It's hasn't affected my work but it has definitely affected my volunteer responsibilities," said Mary Beth Anderson, who works from home and does volunteer work in Gilroy. "I'm just glad I'm not trying to deliver a baby today."
"In a job place, you can live without a phone, but you can't live without the internet," said Norma Ludergnani, who planned to drive to Hollister for work today. "I don't know what the high school kids are going to do during breaks. They'll have to talk the old-fashioned way."
Phone Service Restored For Most AT&T Customers
Posted: 7:14 am PDT April 9, 2009Updated: 10:44 pm PDT April 9, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- AT&T crews partially restored phone connections serving the South Bay at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, but some of the more than 50,000 households affected by the early morning fiber optic cable sabotage remain without service.
Thursday night, AT&T says the majority of people affected -- mainly those in San Martin, Gilroy and Morgan Hill -- have their phone and 911 service back.
By 9:30 p.m., the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office demobilized crews stationed in key intersections in the South County area, according to the Office of Emergency Services.
However, in South San Jose, crews were still working to repair cable lines to restore service to hundreds more in the area.
AT&T spokesman John Britton said repair crews expect to complete restoration some time tonight, but reports indicate full restoration might not happen until Friday morning.
Thursday's outage prompted a local state of emergency in Santa Clara County and also impacted parts of Santa Cruz and San Benito counties where phones, internet connections, even ATMs were out of service all day long.
Workers restored 911 services for all residents with phone service by 5 p.m., county Office of Emergency Services spokeswoman Kirsten Hofmann announced at an evening news conference at county sheriff's headquarters.
Hofmann, who received the first call at 2 a.m. about the phone outages, said teams are going door-to-door to check on homebound senior citizens and search and rescue teams are posted in unincorporated areas in case residents need help.
The outages have been affecting more than 52,000 Internet browsers, landlines and cell phones in South San Jose, Gilroy, Morgan Hill and other areas, according to the county. Because residents could not call 911, emergency responders from across the area mobilized to make sure people could get help in case of an emergency.
Hofmann said police and ambulance radios were not affected.
AT&T spokesman John Britton projected repair crews would complete the process of repairing the hundreds of tiny strands inside the fiber optic cables some time Thursday night, although he could not give a more specific estimate.
While Britton declined to speculate who might be behind the cut cables, which police are treating as an act of vandalism, he did note that whoever sawed through the plastic-sheathed cables seemed to be knowledgeable about accessing fiber optic lines.
"Somebody had the proper tool to remove the manhole cover," he said.
Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., fiber optic lines were cut at a total of four sites in San Jose and San Carlos. The original repair site was at Monterey Highway at Blossom Hill Road, then a second site located nearby at Hays Avenue and Cottle Road. Two San Carlos sites, near Old County Road and Bing Street, have not affected phone services, according to police Cmdr. Richard Cinfio.
AT&T says a total of ten fiber optic cables were vandalized at the four locations.
San Jose fire chief Ken Waldvogel said he was not aware of anyone who needed to flag down a police officer or visit a fire department due to an emergency. Emergency responders checked with area senior homes and hospitals, he said, to make sure landlines were working.
With ATMs out of service for almost the entire day, cash was difficult to come by in the southern portion of Santa Clara County.
"If you are going to need money tonight, find an ATM before you reach South San Jose," Hofmann said.
San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis also declined to speculate, but said the perpetrator's apparent familiarity with fiber optic cables is just one of several leads being investigated.
Davis also said he is confident in the information and evidence his team has collected so far.
"I pity the individual who has done this," he said of the strength of investigators' leads.
Both police departments are working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. In addition to criminal vandalism, cutting the cables could result in state or federal criminal charges.
Legally, additional criminal charges are possible, Davis said, "If we find out there are victims who did not receive 911 services as a result of these actions."
AT&T is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism, Britton said. Anyone with information should call (408) 947-STOP.
Santa Clara County President Liz Kniss thanked the array of city and county offices that worked together to maintain safety and order, she said, in the face of a very unusual emergency situation.
"Currently we are ready for earthquakes, we are ready for fires and most everything else," she said. "We weren't ready for cables being clipped in South San Jose."
The labor contract between AT&T and the Union Communication Workers of America expired last weekend and negotiations are underway. Some questioned if there was a link.
Thursday night union leaders denounced the vandalism, saying they will work with police to find who was responsible.
Posted: 7:14 am PDT April 9, 2009Updated: 10:44 pm PDT April 9, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- AT&T crews partially restored phone connections serving the South Bay at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, but some of the more than 50,000 households affected by the early morning fiber optic cable sabotage remain without service.
Thursday night, AT&T says the majority of people affected -- mainly those in San Martin, Gilroy and Morgan Hill -- have their phone and 911 service back.
By 9:30 p.m., the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office demobilized crews stationed in key intersections in the South County area, according to the Office of Emergency Services.
However, in South San Jose, crews were still working to repair cable lines to restore service to hundreds more in the area.
AT&T spokesman John Britton said repair crews expect to complete restoration some time tonight, but reports indicate full restoration might not happen until Friday morning.
Thursday's outage prompted a local state of emergency in Santa Clara County and also impacted parts of Santa Cruz and San Benito counties where phones, internet connections, even ATMs were out of service all day long.
Workers restored 911 services for all residents with phone service by 5 p.m., county Office of Emergency Services spokeswoman Kirsten Hofmann announced at an evening news conference at county sheriff's headquarters.
Hofmann, who received the first call at 2 a.m. about the phone outages, said teams are going door-to-door to check on homebound senior citizens and search and rescue teams are posted in unincorporated areas in case residents need help.
The outages have been affecting more than 52,000 Internet browsers, landlines and cell phones in South San Jose, Gilroy, Morgan Hill and other areas, according to the county. Because residents could not call 911, emergency responders from across the area mobilized to make sure people could get help in case of an emergency.
Hofmann said police and ambulance radios were not affected.
AT&T spokesman John Britton projected repair crews would complete the process of repairing the hundreds of tiny strands inside the fiber optic cables some time Thursday night, although he could not give a more specific estimate.
While Britton declined to speculate who might be behind the cut cables, which police are treating as an act of vandalism, he did note that whoever sawed through the plastic-sheathed cables seemed to be knowledgeable about accessing fiber optic lines.
"Somebody had the proper tool to remove the manhole cover," he said.
Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., fiber optic lines were cut at a total of four sites in San Jose and San Carlos. The original repair site was at Monterey Highway at Blossom Hill Road, then a second site located nearby at Hays Avenue and Cottle Road. Two San Carlos sites, near Old County Road and Bing Street, have not affected phone services, according to police Cmdr. Richard Cinfio.
AT&T says a total of ten fiber optic cables were vandalized at the four locations.
San Jose fire chief Ken Waldvogel said he was not aware of anyone who needed to flag down a police officer or visit a fire department due to an emergency. Emergency responders checked with area senior homes and hospitals, he said, to make sure landlines were working.
With ATMs out of service for almost the entire day, cash was difficult to come by in the southern portion of Santa Clara County.
"If you are going to need money tonight, find an ATM before you reach South San Jose," Hofmann said.
San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis also declined to speculate, but said the perpetrator's apparent familiarity with fiber optic cables is just one of several leads being investigated.
Davis also said he is confident in the information and evidence his team has collected so far.
"I pity the individual who has done this," he said of the strength of investigators' leads.
Both police departments are working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. In addition to criminal vandalism, cutting the cables could result in state or federal criminal charges.
Legally, additional criminal charges are possible, Davis said, "If we find out there are victims who did not receive 911 services as a result of these actions."
AT&T is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism, Britton said. Anyone with information should call (408) 947-STOP.
Santa Clara County President Liz Kniss thanked the array of city and county offices that worked together to maintain safety and order, she said, in the face of a very unusual emergency situation.
"Currently we are ready for earthquakes, we are ready for fires and most everything else," she said. "We weren't ready for cables being clipped in South San Jose."
The labor contract between AT&T and the Union Communication Workers of America expired last weekend and negotiations are underway. Some questioned if there was a link.
Thursday night union leaders denounced the vandalism, saying they will work with police to find who was responsible.
fuckin sucked! No texting at work, no siccness! fuck those bitches
