Man called power-line vandal

Suspect held over destruction in Cabot, Scott, Jacksonville

FBI agents Friday arrested a Jacksonville man accused of tearing down power and transmission lines and setting fire to an electrical switching station.

Jason Woodring, 37, was charged with destruction of an energy facility after he admitted to downing power lines in Cabot, setting fire to a Scott switching station and tearing down transmission lines near his Jacksonville home, according to a federal criminal complaint.

FBI agents began investigating Aug. 21 when Entergy learned a power line was toppled near a railroad track near 2005 Bill Foster Memorial Highway in Cabot.

Businesses and homeowners in the area lost power about 3:30 a.m., and about 30 minutes later, a train struck the power line on the railroad tracks and broke it, the complaint states.

A vandal had climbed a 100-foot tall support tower and had torn a shackle that holds up the power line, causing it to fall onto the tracks, the complaint states.

Investigators spotted a hacksaw and a shackle near the tower, along with “small wooden steps” nailed to a nearby tree used to tie a cable, insulated by a blue plastic hose, to the tower.

About a month later, Entergy officials reported an “intruder alert” at a high-voltage switching station at 9127 Arkansas 165 in Scott, the complaint states. More alarms sounded soon after, and authorities arrived to find the station on fire, along with a metal panel with writing that said “You should have expected U.S.”

On Oct. 6, 9,000 First Electric Cooperative customers in Jacksonville lost power for nearly two hours after a transmission line was downed, the complaint states. Two power poles were cut down, one with a tractor stolen from a home across from Woodring’s house, the complaint said.

Lonoke County sheriff ’s deputies were called Friday to Woodring’s home after people reported an explosion. Local and federal authorities soon learned the explosion happened under power lines near Woodring’s home and found a blue plastic hose similar to that found at the Cabot facility, the complaint said.

In an interview Friday, Woodring told FBI agents he took several bolts out of the Cabot tower base over a month’s time, sawed off the connectors, which took about 30 minutes each, and slashed the shackle to drop the power line.

“Before he successfully dropped the power line, Woodring tried approximately three times to pull the tower down with a train,” the complaint states. “However, each attempt failed, so he returned and sawed the connectors off instead.”

Woodring also said he watched the Scott station “for a few days” before torching the building with a gallon of ethanol and motor oil. He cut open a fence and used bolt cutters to get past two padlocks to enter the station, the complaint states.

In the Jacksonville power failure, Woodring admitted borrowing a chainsaw to cut down the two poles, the complaint says.

“When he cut the first pole and its guide wires, the pole did not fall,” the complaint states. “Frustrated, he returned another night to cut down a second pole using an axe, a splitting wedge and a chain saw.”

When the second pole didn’t fall, Woodring took his neighbor’s tractor, drove it to the poles and used a winch to pull it down “partway,” the complaint states.

The destruction caused more than $2 million in damage, the complaint states.

If convicted, Woodring could face up to a 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.