Emergency phone lines in three West Contra Costa County towns have been hijacked since Saturday following an attempted copper wire theft — the second such incident this month, police said.
911 calls for Pinole, Hercules and San Pablo continued to be answered by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and then transferred to the Pinole Communications Center, according to a Pinole news release sent Tuesday. The SMS line to 911 remains functional.
The communications center was notified around 7:20 p.m. Saturday that the 911 and business lines were down, according to the release. The department began redirecting emergency calls to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office communications center and dispatched officers to the scene of a June 4 copper wire theft that also disrupted calls .
When officers arrived, three suspects fled into a nearby field toward a residential area. With the help of Hercules police, officers formed a perimeter around the field, they said. Officers also requested assistance from a helicopter and a canine unit from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department.
Police apprehended two of the suspects, but the third remains at large. Tools for cutting copper cables were found at the scene and on one of the suspects, authorities said. The two suspects were incarcerated at the Martinez detention center on suspicion of vandalism and damage to telephone lines; one of the two individuals was also suspected of violating the conditions of his probation.
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