Verizon Equipment Damaged in Cedar Grove

As telecom giant Verizon continues its contract dispute with Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers unions, a spree of apparent sabotage has targeted Verizon facilities across four states, including a site in Cedar Grove.

Verizon issued a Monday detailing nearly a dozen incidents of alleged sabotage in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, starting Saturday, Aug. 6, the day before the unions, which represent some 45,000 wire-line employees across the region, in earnest.

One such incident was at a nondescript equipment shed on Garrett Street in Cedar Grove. Police Chief Richard Vanderstreet said this afternoon that on Saturday morning, a Verizon employee notified the police of damage and theft of an unknown number of electronic cards that were stored inside the shed.

Vanderstreet said the incident caused brief interruptions in township residents' Verizon phone service over the weekend, and that Township Hall, which was closed at the time of the incident, briefly lost service as well. But, he said, the police department's phones were "functioning fully," contrary to what Verizon had stated in the news release about the theft affecting the police department's phones.

Vanderstreet said the incident was still under investigation, but that the nature of the damage could point to sabotage.

"[The suspect] had pulled out a number of cards in an attempt to corrupt the system."

Though he declined to speculate whether the incident could be connected to the contract dispute, Vanderstreet said his department hasn't eliminated it as a possibility.

"We're investigating the possibility the damage may have had something to do with the work action."

While tensions remain high there is potentially light at the end of the tunnel. According to a report by Reuters, both representatives of the labor unions and Verizon have since returned to the discussion table in hopes of working out a new contract that both sides can agree upon.

Phil Hoops contributed to this report.