A copper wire theft early on Sunday, November 8, near West Second Avenue and Chambers Street in Eugene cut phone service to the regional 911 communications centre that serves about 250,000 people in Lane County. Residents were asked to text 911 during the outage, some calls were rerouted to outside agencies with delays of a few minutes each, and full service did not return until 3:30 p.m.
Eugene police say security camera video helped detectives identify a suspect, and a 26-year-old man was arrested on November 11. He is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of second-degree theft; the allegations have not been proven in court. Police estimate the wire was worth about $100, while repairs cost about $5,000. They are reminding scrap buyers to verify where metal comes from and asking residents and businesses to report suspicious activity around utility boxes, telecommunications lines and construction sites.
Original summary by the Xtreme Security Briefing team, based on the reporting above. Charges are allegations and have not been proven in court. Source checked: Nov 14, 2026.
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