Updated 01/24/2012 04:00 PM
Arrest made in utility pole cutting incident
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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The man charged with weakening five electrical transmission poles with a chain saw had an encounter with police weeks before he was caught.
Police in Orchard Park say Gregory Siefert of Hamburg was questioned by an officer on January 3rd when he was seen at 4:30 in the morning along the side of Taylor Road with a wagon that held a chainsaw.
"His explanation wasn't very plausible at the time, but we had nothing to hold him on. On January 13th, a little after four in the morning, there was a major power outage in the northern end of Orchard Park, southern end of West Seneca," said Detective Lt. Patrick McMaster with the Orchard Park Police Department.
The poles were cut with a chainsaw nearly all the way through.
About 6,000 people lost power when three power poles blew down in the wind.
Seifert faces charges of criminal mischief and tampering. He's being held in the Erie County Holding Center on $2,500 bond.