PSP: Two accused of trying to swipe transformers, knocking out power in Delano
DELANO – Two people are facing charges, accused of downing a utility pole, knocking out power to this village in their alleged attempt to swipe two transformers.
Chelsea Lorady, 33, of Park Place, and Gavyn Datchko, 21, of Delano, are facing charges in relation to the incident.
They are both facing felony charges of disruption of service, risking catastrophe, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and criminal mischief.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Trooper Joshua Yates of the State Police at Frackville, police were called around 12:30am Monday to the area of Hazel Street and Lakeside Avenue for a reported theft.
Troopers were notified that two transformers had been cut from a PPL Electric Utilities utility pole and caused a power outage in the Delano area around 11pm Sunday.
A PPL field crew reported to police that a PPL utility pole had been cut down at the Carbonite Filter Corporation. The pole had three transformers, and two were gone.
The pole was energized when it was taken down, and it powered the entire village.
Tire tracks, as well as drag marks and an oil slick from the transformers, were seen there as well.
Yates wrote that he saw the downed pole with wires hanging, noting that the pole appeared to have been cut by a saw. Part of the utility pole had broken off and struck the Carbonite Filter building, causing damage to the roof.
The trail left by the transformer crossed property owned by the Reading, Blue Mountain, and Northern Railroad as well as the Bears Head Sportsman Association, where one of the transformers was found.
Trail cameras were placed on the Bears Head Sportsman Association property, covering the transformer, and Lorady was seen near the transformer around 7:14pm Monday night, Yates wrote. The trooper said she arrived with an ATV and placed chains around the transformer. She covered it with tree branches to conceal it, and a few hours later, both Lorady and Datchko were seen by the transformer, the latter “manipulating the transformer.”
A neighbor nearby the Carbonite Filter Corporation said he saw Lorady enter the Carbonite Filter property. Shortly after, the power flickered and then went out, he told police. When he came back outside to investigate, Lorady had left the property. He asked where she was going, and she said she was coming from Park Place to visit her boyfriend, Datchko.
Around 10pm Monday, Lorady reported to the county communications center non-emergency number that she had found a transformer.
Just after midnight on Wednesday morning, troopers detained Lorady. Lorady admitted, Yates wrote, that she and Datchko were seen on the trail cameras, and that she knew Datchko was planning to cut down the pole to scrap the transformers for money.
She said he used a chainsaw to cut it down.
She was arraigned Wednesday morning and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $25,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for June 19.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Datchko.
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