An internet outage across large parts of Long Beach was caused by someone who intentionally cut fiber optic lines “in a criminal act of vandalism,” according to a spokesperson for Spectrum.
The cable company was notified of the vandalism “early this morning,” affecting parts of Long Beach and Signal Hill, Spectrum spokesperson Pam Collazo said.
Police were notified of the suspected vandalism between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., said Signal Hill police Lt. Kelli Crigler.
Spectrum declined to provide the exact number of residents and businesses without internet access, but the outage stretched as far as Downtown, Alamitos Beach and the Willmore neighborhood, according to comments on NextDoor.
The outage also disrupted non-cash purchases at numerous businesses, including restaurants, coffee shops and retail stores.
“Some affected areas in Long Beach have already been restored this morning,” Collazo said.
The remaining customers were expected to be restored by 3 p.m., according to an update sent by Spectrum.
“Our techs are currently doing fiber splices to repair our network lines to restore services,” Collazo said.
The vandalism reportedly occurred in Signal Hill, and Spectrum was working with Signal Hill police to track down the suspected vandal or vandals, Collazo said, adding that the company’s fiber lines do not include any copper, a metal that’s often the target of vandals trying to resell it.
An older model, dark-colored Chevrolet Tahoe with its right front headlight out was spotted in the area near the fiber optic cables around the time they were cut, Crigler said.
Spectrum is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest. Residents were encouraged to call 833-404-8477 to report any suspicious activity they may have witnessed.