Massive Fairfield County Internet Outage: Duo Accused Of Cutting Fiber Optic Lines
The incident took place in Norwalk on Friday, March 24 around 7:15 a.m.
Norwalk officers responded to a report of damage to Optimum cable lines on Broad Street. Optimum personnel on the scene reported over 2000 fiber optic lines had been cut and as a result, over 40,000 customers had lost service, said Norwalk Deputy Police Chief Terrence Blake.
The outages were mainly in Norwalk and New Canaan.
Detectives assumed the investigation and quickly identified a suspect vehicle and developed suspects.
Blake said that as a result of "their thorough investigation," arrest warrants were issued for Jillian Nicole Persons, age 30, and Austin Keith Geddings, age 26, both of Asheville, North Carolina.
On Saturday, April 1, detectives conducted a surveillance operation in Bridgeport. During the operation, they spotted Persons inside a business on Boston Avenue. She was arrested without incident, Blake said.
A short time later detectives located and arrested Geddings in a wooded area near West Avenue in Stratford, he added.
Persons was charged with:
- Conspiracy to commit criminal mischief
- Conspiracy to commit larceny
- Interfering with a police officer
- False statement
She was held on a $200,000 bond.
Geddings was charged with:
- Conspiracy to commit criminal mischief
- Conspiracy to commit larceny
- Interfering with a police officer
He was also held on a $200,000 bond.
Both are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, April 11.
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