EAST LIVERPOOL Comcast offers $10,000 reward

The company has no idea how vandals were able to cut the fiber-optic line.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Comcast is offering a $10,000 reward for information about vandalism that disrupted cable television service to about 8,800 customers.
Mike Smith, spokesman for the Pittsburgh-based company, said reports of loss of service began in East Palestine about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Technicians traced the problem to a cable line that was deliberately cut in the 1100 block of Avondale Avenue in East Liverpool. The service was restored by about 7 a.m. Thursday.
The vandalism did not affect service to Comcast customers in East Liverpool, Smith said.
He said the reward would go to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or group responsible.
Smith said it is difficult to believe that vandals were able to damage the line in the middle of the day without anyone seeing them.
Baffling feat
He said more baffling than why someone would vandalize the service is how they were able to do it the way it was done.
Smith said someone went to a lot of trouble and took a lot of time to do the damage. The line, about 15 feet of the ground, was cut between poles.
Avondale Avenue is on a slope, and the line was cut in front of a residence. Because of the slope, he doesn't think the vandals could have used a ladder, and the line was cut too far out from a pole for the pole to have been climbed.
He said someone would have had to stand on top of a large vehicle or even have bucket truck to do the damage.
The instrument used was a household steak knife, and it was jammed into the cable at an angle. The person doing that would need good leverage and strong force.
Smith said the fiber-optic cable is reinforced with several layers of hard plastic and even a layer of kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests. The bundles of fiber-optic cable inside the several layers of plastic and kevlar are also encased in plastic, he said.
Customers reported outages, but not total loss of service. He said some channels were not affected because the vandals did not cut completely through the line.
Service out for repair
Smith said once the trouble was found and repairs began, service was cut off as technicians repaired and tested the lines. Repairing fiber-optic lines, which are tiny glass tubes, requires special equipment because the tubes must be heated to be spliced together, he noted.
Cable customers will be credited with one day's service for the trouble, Smith said. The amount of that credit will vary depending on the various packages customers have, he said.
Smith said the line was to the distribution center based in New Waterford, affecting customers in East Palestine, Columbiana, Leetonia, Washingtonville, New Waterford, Springfield, New Middletown, Middleton Township, Rogers, Salem Township, Fairfield and Unity Townships, Bessemer Borough, Mahoning Township and North Beaver Township in Pennsylvania.
Anyone with information about the vandalism may call Comcast's tip line at (800) 824-4045. Callers can be anonymous; however, to qualify for the reward, callers must leave a call-back number, Smith said.