The Associated Press
OAK CREEK, Wisc. -- Someone removed bolts from the base of a high-voltage electrical transmission tower, causing it to fall on a second tower and knock out power to 17,000 customers, police said.
The bolts were removed from a plate connecting the legs at the base of one of the 80-foot towers, causing it to knock down the other as it fell Saturday evening near Oak Creek, a Milwaukee suburb, police Chief Thomas Bauer said.
“It does look like it’s for the purpose of weakening the structure so it would fall,” Bauer said.
The incident caused a four-hour outage Saturday for 17,000 customers, including General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Bauer said. Screening equipment was shut down and flights were delayed as passengers and luggage were screened by hand, said Pat Rowe, airport spokeswoman.
Downed wires from the towers lay across railroad tracks much of Sunday, delaying passenger and freight trains from Amtrak and Canadian Pacific Railroad, Bauer said. Train service resumed Sunday evening after authorities cut the wires, he said.
An investigation that involved the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI continued Monday.