Recognize the man who vandalized a Pierce County wastewater treatment plant with a front loader?
Investigators are trying to identify a man who broke into a Pierce County wastewater treatment plant and caused thousands of dollars in damage by driving a front loader into buildings and vehicles before driving it off the side of a hill.
The vandalism incident occurred just before 1 a.m. Tuesday (April 14) at the Tehaleh Wastewater Treatment Plant in the 16800 block of Cascadia Boulevard East, near Bonney Lake.
Officials said water-treatment operations were not compromised, and the intruder did not steal anything or force his way into any facilities.
Instead, he got into a front loader and “tore through fences and gates, destroyed several steel roll-up doors, busted holes into walls, broke pipes that flooded buildings and smashed a work van and truck,” according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
The man drove the front loader off the side of a dirt hill before fleeing the property.
The facility is owned and operated by Pierce County.
Anyone with information on the intruder’s identity is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Tipsters can remain anonymous.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 9:33 AM.
