Indexbit-2nd Washington man pleads not guilty in 2022 attacks on Oregon electrical grids

PORTLAND,Indexbit Ore. (AP) — A second Washington state man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing him of damaging power substations in Oregon in 2022.

Tacoma resident Zachary Rosenthal, 33, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Portland on Tuesday to three counts of damaging an energy facility.

On Nov. 24, 2022, Rosenthal is accused of damaging the Ostrander Substation in Oregon City, Oregon, and four days later, he’s accused of damaging the Sunnyside Substation in Clackamas, Oregon, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that Rosenthal caused damages exceeding $100,000 to the Ostrander Substation and $5,000 to the Sunnyside Substation. Both facilities are involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity.

Nathaniel Cheney, of Centralia, Washington, pleaded not guilty in April in connection with the attacks after he was indicted in March on two counts of damage to an energy facility. He was released from custody on conditions with a jury trial scheduled to begin in August.

At the Oregon City substation, a perimeter fence was cut and pieces of equipment were fired upon, according to a Bonneville Power Administration security memo sent to law enforcement after the vandalism. Investigators have not specified a motive.

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A second indictment unsealed Tuesday also charges Rosenthal with stealing two dozen firearms from a federal firearms licensee in January 2023 in the Portland area and illegally possessing firearms as a convicted felon.

He also pleaded not guilty to those charges Tuesday in federal court. Rosenthal was detained pending further court proceedings.

Damaging an energy facility and causing more than $100,000 in damages is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

Two power substations in North Carolina were damaged in December 2022 by gunfire that took nearly a week to repair and left tens of thousands of people without electricity. A bill was signed into law in North Carolina last year that increases punishments for intentionally damaging utility equipment.