A man is facing terrorism-related charges after he allegedly rammed his car through a gate at a solar power plant near Las Vegas, set the car on fire, and disabled the facility, according to police.
An employee at the facility told the media outlet that the fire caused “major damage,” estimating that it would take two years to receive replacement parts. The damaged unit was shut down and isn’t producing electricity at this time, officials told the outlet.
Investigators told the channel that they believe Mesmarian siphoned gasoline from his vehicle and placed gas on wires at the transformer before setting them on fire. Security camera footage was also released, allegedly showing the suspect lighting his car on fire near the transformer.
Damage was done to the Mega Solar Array facility, which provides power to MGM properties, including its hotels.
“Following an incident at the Mega Solar Array facility, on-site personnel immediately notified authorities and shut down the plant’s operations as a precaution in accordance with industry-standard safety protocols,” a spokesperson for Invenergy, which manages the plant, told the media outlet. “No one was injured, and we are currently restoring the facility’s full operations.”
Other Attacks
While there have been several attacks on power plants and substations in recent weeks, the Vegas attack hadn’t garnered any major mainstream media coverage as of Jan. 8. Officials in Washington state confirmed that they arrested two men for several attacks on power substations near Tacoma, although the two weren’t charged with terrorism-related counts.
Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on charges of conspiracy to damage energy facilities and possession of unregistered firearms, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Authorities said the two men wanted to knock out power to the area to commit a burglary targeting a local business, according to charging documents.
“While the power was out, after the Graham and South Hill attacks, the two went to a local business, Crahan drilled out a lock, and Greenwood entered to steal from the cash register,” agents wrote in charging documents filed in the Western Washington U.S. District Court.
Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, told USA Today that their motive appeared to be for monetary gain but didn’t rule out terror-related charges.
“We just don’t know that yet,” Langlie said.
The two men were known to authorities and had been under FBI surveillance for more than a month in late 2021 and early 2022, FBI special agent Mark Tucher said in an affidavit filed in federal court. The agent didn’t give reasons for that surveillance, but Tucher described himself in the affidavit as an expert in domestic terrorism assigned to the FBI Seattle division’s joint terrorism task force.
According to Tucher’s affidavit, investigators believe that the men cut fencing leading to four power stations in Pierce County, Washington, operated by Puget Sound Energy and Tacoma Power.
They then tampered with the equipment, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses, the affidavit alleged. Greenwood and Crahan were arrested on Jan. 7.
In December 2022, a utility in North Carolina reported outages from what local authorities said were orchestrated shootings that are now being investigated by federal law enforcement. The FBI has also been investigating shots fired near a power facility in South Carolina days later.
No arrests have been made in connection to the incidents reported in North and South Carolina.
And last year, an explosion was reported at the Hoover Dam, located about 30 minutes southeast of Las Vegas. The blast and explosion were caused by a transformer fire, authorities said.
