A Thanksgiving eve burglary in a Verizon central office in White ...
A Thanksgiving eve burglary in a Verizon central office in White Plains, N.Y., knocked out landline 911 service and competitive carrier services in 10 northern Westchester County communities for over 7 hours. According to White Plains police, 2 men…
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broke into the Verizon office in late evening of Nov. 24 and pulled more than 100 circuit boards out of the equipment there. The pulled boards disrupted 911 and the services of several competitive telecom providers who were colocated in the central office. Verizon’s phone services still worked although 911 access was lost. Wireless 911 access wasn’t affected. Authorities in the affected towns activated backup systems when 911 went out. The thieves were caught before they could get away with their loot. White Plains police arrested Larry Davis, 43, of Brooklyn and Gailican Phillips, 34, of Manhattan, and charged them with 6 felonies and 1 misdemeanor. Technicians reinstalled the boards and service was back to normal by 8 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.