Seattle – A former Tacoma resident, Zachary Rosenthal, aged 33, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy and multiple counts of destruction or attempted destruction of energy facilities. Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller announced the indictment was issued earlier this month. Rosenthal is currently serving a sentence in the Washington State Department of Corrections for vehicular assault and had previously faced charges in Oregon for damaging two energy facilities. His trial in Oregon is set for November 3, 2025.
The indictment from Western Washington details Rosenthal's alleged involvement in damaging six power substations between June and December 2022. The targeted facilities were the Toledo substation in Lewis County, Woodland 1 and Woodland 2 substations in Cowlitz County, Puyallup substation in Pierce County, Tumwater substation in Thurston County, and an attempted attack on the Oakville substation in Grays Harbor County.
The indictment includes demands for forfeiture of proceeds from what investigators believe was an attempt to exploit power outages for burglaries. The attacks caused significant power disruptions, affecting between 1,000 and 6,000 customers per substation. Various methods were allegedly used for these attacks, such as gunshots, smashing equipment, and using heavy chains to short-circuit systems.
Rosenthal's actions in Washington were paralleled by similar incidents in Portland, Oregon, on November 24 and 28, 2022. Damaging energy facilities with intention to disrupt is a federal offense, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and supervised release for three years.
The indictment's charges are allegations and do not imply guilt until proven in court. The FBI is conducting the investigation, with Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg handling prosecution.