Two men were arrested near a Virginia substation for what authorities described as a robbery.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to the 26000 block of Auburn Farm Road in Aldie, Virginia, at approximately 12:38 a.m. Saturday to a report of “two men cutting through a fence” in an area of owned by Dominion Energy that is leased to another entity.
The sheriff’s office did not specify which entity.
Deputies quickly arrived on the scene and were able to locate the two suspects who had violated the electrical storage yard and take them into custody, according to the sheriff’s office.
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Christopher J. Macmillan, 51, and Joshua L. Settle, 38, were arrested in connection with a robbery in Aldie at an electrical storage yard on Dominion Energy property. (Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO))
Investigators said a bag of wire cutters was recovered at the scene.
“While the incident remains under investigation, all indications point to the subjects being there to steal copper wire. Dominion Energy officials confirmed there was not a breach at an adjacent Dominion Energy substation,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook, describing the incident as a “burglary.”
Christopher J. Macmillan, 51, and Joshua L. Settle, 38, both of Manassas, were charged with possession of burglary tools, attempted burglary, trespassing, destruction of property and conspiracy to commit burglary. Both were transported to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.
Crews in Carthage are working to restore power to tens of thousands in Moore County, North Carolina, after an attack on two Duke Energy substations in December. (Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Macmillan is being held without bond and Settles was given $7,500 secured bond.
The Virginia State Police and the Fairfax County Police Department Helicopter Division provided assistance.
While the substation was not breached in this incident and local investigators have yet to expose any more sinister plots other than stealing copper cables, the Department of Homeland Security has been on the alert about the vulnerability of the US power grid infrastructure. .
A Maryland ex-convict is seen wearing tactical gear containing a swastika and holding a rifle and holstered pistol on her left leg in photos included in an FBI affidavit charging her in a network hack plot Baltimore Electric. (FBI)
Last week, the FBI arrested a neo-Nazi leader from Florida and an ex-convict from Maryland in connection with an alleged plot to attack five substations to sabotage Baltimore’s power grid.
Last month, two Washington state men were arrested and charged with attacking four substations over the Christmas holidays, leaving thousands of people in the dark and cold. One of those defendants allegedly told investigators that the motive was to shut off power in order to rob an unidentified nearby business.
Washington power grid attack suspect seen in surveillance footage provided to the FBI at one of four substations attacked on Christmas. (Justice Department )
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No arrests have yet been made in connection with the December substation shooting in North Carolina’s Moore County that left more than 45,000 customers without power for several days. The FBI was monitoring whether more shootings at another substation in Randolph County, NC, in January were somehow related.
