Man arrested for tampering with gas lines in Gonzales
GONZALES, Calif. (KION-TV)-- The Gonzales Police Department said they arrested someone that is potentially responsible for tampering with gas lines.
At 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday PG&E began receiving calls of gas interruptions and PG&E located the problem facility near Gonzales River Road.
Juan Roberto Lopez Gomez, 54, was found at the scene and told PG&E personnel that he shut off the gas supply line, according to police.
Officers then arrived and asked him why he shut down the gas line to which Lopez Gomez replied, "Because he was trying to fix them."
Lopez Gomez was arrested and charged for possession of a controlled substance, damaging gas pipes or mainline, violation of probation and trespassing on private property.
His bail is set at $17,5000 and Lopez Gomez is currently in Monterey County Jail.
There is no clear motive at this time but drugs were found on the suspect's person.
As of Thursday afternoon, 73 people do not have their gas turned on out of 2,000 customer disruptions were reported initially.
"We are going to staff up to three gas service representatives in Gonzales over the next days to continue supporting restoration efforts so that we can quickly relight people when notified that they are going to be home," PG&E said.
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ORIGINAL STORY
The city said it is aware of gas being unavailable for residents as of Tuesday.
PG&E said that all customers should expect their gas to return by 11 p.m. Tuesday and they will visit every impacted customer.
If a customer is not present for a pilot relight, we’ll leave a note asking for a call to PG&E at 1-800-743-5000 so that we can come back as soon as possible to do the relight. Customers should not attempt to relight a pilot themselves. We will do a safety check and then relight the pilot.
PG&E
As of 2 a.m. Wednesday gas has been restored for 1,390 customers.
PG&E restoration efforts began at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
There is still no estimated time for full restoration.
This is a developing story that will be updated when more details become available.
