Vandal with a Vendetta? Help ID suspect who badly damaged controversial wastewater treatment plant

WANTED IN PIERCE COUNTY --
Pierce County Sheriff’s detectives think the suspect who used a front loader to cause thousands of dollars in damage to the county-run Tehaleh Wastewater Treatment Plant may live in the area. Detectives confirm he is not a former worker at the plant.


"There was some controversy when this was built, so we don't know if it's a neighbor who is angry, or if somebody has any type of vendetta but we're lucky because none of the damage cause the treatment facility to shutdown," said Pierce County Sheriff's Det. Ed Troyer.

On Tuesday, April 14, at 12:53am, the pictured suspect used a front loader to smash walls and damage work vehicles at the Tehaleh Wastewater Treatment Plant located in the 16800 block of Cascadia Blvd. E. near the Bonney Lake/Prairie Ridge area.

The suspect tore through fences and gates, destroyed several steel roll-up doors, busted holes into walls, broke pipes that flooded buildings and smashed a work van and truck. The suspect drove the front loader off the side of dirt hill and fled the property.

"There was no entry to the buildings, no items were stolen from the facility and water treatment operations were not compromised. The water treatment facility is owned and operated by Pierce County and we take crimes against infrastructure and our county’s taxpayers very seriously," said Det. Troyer.

If you have any information on who is responsible for this crime, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). You can also text an anonymous tip using the P3 Tips app on your smart phone. A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered by Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers for information that leads directly to the identification and arrest of the suspect in this case.