Investigators said the suspects were arrested Monday night before they were able to gain access to the vault. At this time, police are still trying to figure out why they were trying to get into that power vault, but prosecutors said in court Tuesday afternoon the power vault helped provide telecommunications for South Sound 911.
The property is closed to the public, with the only access blocked by concrete blocks, and the tower is fenced in, so it's unclear to police how the suspects even knew how to access the vault. “At this time, we don’t know their intentions, whether it was to gain access to wiring for resale, or whether they were trying to damage infrastructure,” Haddow said.All but one suspect appeared in Pierce County Superior Court for their first appearances Tuesday afternoon, pleading not guilty to the charges through a public defender.