Cops:: Pair charged in Norwalk vandalism that caused internet outages

Sep 05, 2023

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Norwalk police said 2,000 fiber-optic cable lines were cut in Norwalk on March 24, causing thousands of internet outages for Optimum customers in Fairfield County.

Jillian Nicole Persons

Austin Keith Geddings

NORWALK — Police said two North Carolina residents have been charged in connection with a vandalism that disrupted internet service to about 40,000 Optimum customers in Fairfield County last month.

Austin Keith Geddings, 26, and Jillian Nicole Persons, 30, were arrested Saturday on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit to first-degree criminal mischief and interfering with a police officer. Persons was also charged with making a false statement to police.

Norwalk Deputy Police Chief Terry Blake said Sunday that Persons and Geddings, who are both residents of Asheville, N.C., were identified as suspects in the March 24 incident where more than 2,000 fiber-optic cable lines were cut at an undisclosed location in Norwalk.

Optimum, which has an office on Cross Street, notified police about the vandalism around 7:15 p.m. on March 24.

Blake said more than 40,000 customers in the area were left without internet service as a result of the vandalism. However, an Optimum spokesperson claimed at the time the outages only affected roughly 16,000 customers and the inflated numbers were inaccurate because of an issue with the company's online outage map.

"Norwalk detectives assumed the investigation and quickly identified a suspect vehicle and developed suspects. As a result of their thorough investigation, arrest warrants were issued for Jillian Nicole Persons and Austin Keith Geddings," Blake said.

Blake did not say how police identified Persons or Geddings as suspects, nor did he reveal any possible motives behind the alleged vandalism.

During a "surveillance operation" Saturday, police located Persons at an unidentified business on Boston Avenue in Bridgeport, according to Blake. He said Persons was arrested without incident.

Blake said Geddings was arrested "a short time later" in a wooded area near West Avenue in Stratford.

Geddings and Persons are each being held on $200,000 bond. Both are expected to appear for arraignment at the state Superior Court in Stamford on April 11.