Verizon offers $10K reward for South Jersey cable saboteur
At least 10 incidents have been reported in recent months and the company said the vandalism appears to be increasing.
Verizon is offering a $10,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person who has been vandalizing communication lines and equipment in South Jersey in what the company is calling deliberate acts of sabotage that threaten public safety.
There have been at least 10 incidents in recent months in which fiber optic and copper cables have been cut or other equipment has been damaged, mostly during overnight hours in parts of Burlington and Camden counties, including Cherry Hill, Evesham, and Shamong Townships, Verizon said in a statement.
The incidents have increased in recent weeks and repairs in some cases took nearly 24 hours, the company said.
“This is extremely dangerous and reckless activity and it needs to stop,” said Mike Mason, Verizon’s chief security officer, said in the statement. “This criminal activity is more than just an inconvenience, these are life-threatening actions that are putting lives at risk.”
The company released a surveillance photo of a truck the suspect may have used when a cable was cut and thousands of customers lost service in Cherry Hill on April 28.
Anyone with information can call 911 or Verizon’s Security Control Center at 1-800-997-3287.