Suspects in Christmas grid attacks planned additional crimes, prosecutors say

The men charged with attacking four substations in Pierce County on Christmas Day were plotting even more attacks on the power grid before they were arrested, according to federal prosecutors.

On Friday, prosecutors convinced a federal judge to keep Matthew Greenwood of Puyallup behind bars until he goes to trial. His alleged co-conspirator, Jeremy Crahan of Puyallup, faces a similar federal detention hearing on Tuesday in Tacoma.

The Christmas Day attacks were the latest in a string of at least 15 in the Northwest last year. Federal officials have been warning utilities of white-nationalist plots to target the nation’s electrical grid.

Prosecutors say, though federal investigations are ongoing, they have found no evidence yet of any political motivation for the Christmas attacks.

Greenwood’s attorney, assistant federal defender Becky Fish, said an addiction to methamphetamine led to poor judgment, and poverty and a baby on the way left her client desperate to make money.

“His record indicates to me is someone who whose judgment was not at its best, was not at its healthiest,” Fish said.

Charging documents state that Greenwood told the FBI he wanted to cause power outages so he could rob local businesses.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg, of the Western District of Washington's violent crimes and terrorism unit, said Greenwood and Crahan cased another substation, driving around it with their headlights off between 2 and 5 a.m. two nights after Christmas. Greenberg said they also drove around with a chainsaw, looking for trees to cut down to knock out more power lines.

“Having committed these offenses and planning to do yet another similar but slightly different, equally dangerous power attack, again, shows that this is a defendant who is at high risk of reoffending,” Greenberg said.

Rather than detention, Fish urged Greenwood be enrolled in a 30- to 45-day drug treatment program, with electronic monitoring of his location. She said he was not a serious flight risk.

“His baby is going to be born soon in this district. He has every reason to stay here,” Fish said.

Chief Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura told Greenwood he never wants to put anyone in jail because of a drug addiction or poverty, but that Greenwood posed “a real potential danger to the community.”

“Even if you desire to break into a store for purposes of stealing cash and put thousands of people at risk by doing so, the nature and circumstance of that particular offense is egregious,” Creatura told Greenwood.

The attacks did at least $3 million in damage and meant Christmas in the dark for thousands of people in Pierce County.