Police probing outage that cut Internet, phones in Arizona

Zak Holland opens up a computer at a store on the Northern Arizona University campus in Flagstaff, Ariz., Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. Much of the region was experiencing an Internet and phone outage that was linked to vandalism of a fiber-optic line. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca) Zak Holland opens up a computer at a store on the Northern Arizona University campus in Flagstaff, Ariz., Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. Much of the region was experiencing an Internet and phone outage that was linked to vandalism of a fiber-optic line. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca)

By Associated Press February 26, 2015 3 min read

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Phoenix police are investigating an act of vandalism that left people across northern Arizona without the use of the Internet, cellphones and landlines for several hours.

Businesses couldn’t process credit card transactions, ATMs didn’t function, law enforcement databases were unavailable, and even weather reports were affected in an area stretching from north of Phoenix to Flagstaff, about 100 miles away.

CenturyLink spokesman Alex Juarez said the problem was first reported around noon Wednesday. Internet and phone service started to come back to some residents and businesses in Flagstaff by 6:30 p.m.

All customers were expected to be back online by 3 a.m. Thursday, Juarez said. He didn’t immediately have an estimate of how many people were affected.

Phoenix police said CenturyLink employees found that a fiber-optic cable in far north Phoenix had been completely cut through.