Verizon announced yesterday that it is looking into 57 incidents of network sabotage and various criminal activities in a span of two weeks after approximately 36,000 workers walked off their jobs.
During normal operations, the telecom giant said these incidents are "rare" with only around 6 or so incidents reported in a year. But such activities have accelerated since its workers quit their jobs on April 13.
According to Verizon, the criminal incidents were perpetrated in five states and include "intentionally damaging Verizon equipment," "severing" fiber optic cables, and vandalizing terminal boxes.
For proof, the telecom company cited what vandals did in Salisbury, MA. Verizon said these vandals sliced wires inside a terminal box that provided 911 emergency services to local residents. The company later restored the service.
In addition, 17 incidents of vandalism were reported in New Jersey, a majority of them in the northern part of the state.
Earlier, on April 20, the telecom giant also released a report indicating that thousands of Verizon customers "have been cut off from critical services over the past few days as criminals have damaged or destroyed critical network facilities."
The report also added that "There have been at least 24 suspected incidents of sabotage over the past week in five states in which services were cut off for thousands of residential and business customers, including a local police and fire department in New Jersey."
Michael Mason, chief security officer of the telecom company said: "We will find out who's behind these highly dangerous criminal acts and we will pursue criminal charges."
Verizon is offering a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and prosecution of those who are responsible.
Meanwhile, the Communications Workers of America, the workers' union involved in the strike, did not respond to a request for comment from CNNMoney.
