Piqua, OH resident Christopher A. Daniels has been charged with aggravated trespass, felony vandalism and disrupting public service following a string of break-ins and destruction. According to Miami Valley Today, law enforcement believes Daniels is likely responsible for causing each reported incident of damage or loss.
“Right now, we have five towers [that have been vandalized],” said Troy Police Officer Scott Gates. “They all occurred in about the same time period, between December 4 and December 5. We feel like he’s responsible for all five,” he added. “We retrieved evidence from the scene from his truck.”
Gates said he did not have a dollar figure for the estimated damage, but anticipated that it would be extensive. Police noted that it appears that Daniels used his truck to ram into various cell tower units, and caused further damage when he used chains to try to pull towers off kilter. Two of the towers have been identified as belonging to AT&T. At least one other is owned by the Verizon network.
“It’s serious damage,” Gates confirmed to Miami Valley Today. “Service was disrupted for probably thousands of customers. The station on South Mulberry Street was offline.”
Officer Gates described Daniels as “having delusional thoughts.” Daniels pointed to himself as the perpetrator when he called emergency services. “He had been making several phone calls throughout the night,” Gates explained. “He had made comments to 911 that he was trying to get ahold of Homeland Security. He talked about shutting down the power to the cell towers, and said that he needed to get them shut down.”
Daniels is currently in police custody.
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