PORTLAND — A Lansing area electric utility is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for shooting 14 transformers and other pieces of equipment.
The incidents, all caused by bullets, have caused more than $250,000 in damage to Portland-based HomeWorks Tri-County Electric Cooperative transformers, regulators, and other electric system equipment over the past year, company officials said.
Most of the damage has happened overnight, so the nonprofit electric cooperative with about 23,000 customers in 13 rural counties around Lansing and to the north asked people who hear gunshots at night to report it to their county’s 911 center non-emergency line.
“Intentionally damaging electric infrastructure is a serious felony offense,” HomeWorks CEO Chris O’Neill said. “Providing safe and reliable electricity to our members is our top priority, and we take anything that disrupts our ability to do that very seriously. We are working with the Michigan State Police and local law enforcement agencies to put a stop to these repeated crimes as soon and as safely as possible.”
Anyone with information about these crimes should report it to Crime Stoppers of Mid-Michigan at 517-483-STOP (7867). Crime Stoppers accepts anonymous tips.