Washington man arrested, charged for 2022 attacks on Oregon energy facilities

By Conrad Wilson (OPB)
July 17, 2024 12:43 a.m.

The attacks in 2022 were part of a national series of attempted disruptions to the electrical grid that law enforcement warned could have possible ties to extremist groups.

A second Washington man was arraigned on federal charges in Portland Tuesday for allegedly damaging two energy substations in Clackamas County in November 2022.

Zachary Rosenthal, 33, from Tacoma, is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center on several charges including three counts of damaging an energy facility.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:

The attacks in 2022 were part of a national series of attempted disruptions to the electrical grid that law enforcement warned had possible ties to extremist groups. Justice Department officials have not said if they have identified a motive.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
FILE: Bonneville Power Administration’s Oregon City Substation in Oregon City, Ore., Jan. 5, 2023.

FILE: Bonneville Power Administration’s Oregon City Substation in Oregon City, Ore., Jan. 5, 2023.

Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

According to the court documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Rosenthal damaged the Sunnyside Substation in Clackamas and the Ostrander Substation in Oregon City.

The indictment also charged Nathaniel Cheney, 30, of Centralia, Washington, with two counts of damage to an energy facility. Cheney was arrested in April and was released after being arraigned in Portland.

According to charging documents, Rosenthal and Cheney “knowingly and willfully damaged” the Sunnyside Substation in Clackamas on Nov. 28, 2022, and “attempted to cause a significant interruption and impairment of the function of the energy facility.”

Rosenthal was arraigned Tuesday on a second indictment for allegedly stealing two-dozen firearms on Jan. 4, 2023, from All That Glitters Jewelry & Loans, a pawn shop in Milwaukie, Oregon. He’s also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to federal prosecutors, Rosenthal was convicted in 2021 in King County, Washington, for taking a motor vehicle without permission and malicious mischief, both in the second degree.

Rosenthal’s defense attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR: