Vandalism blamed for internet outage across part of Coachella Valley, all services restored

Residents in some Indio and La Quinta areas woke up without video, internet, and phone service on Friday. Spectrum is blaming "a damaged fiber optic cable caused by vandalism." Indio Police are investigating.

Dennis Johnson, Senior Director West Region Communications for Spectrum, tells News Channel 3 that at least half of the customers with interruptions had service restored, but did not clarify how many total customers were without service in total.

“Our fiber lines were cut this morning as a result of vandalism in the Indio area. Our technicians responded right away and we are currently making the necessary repairs to the fiber cuts to restore services as soon as possible.”

Dennis Johnson, Senior Director West Region Communications

Spectrum announced just before 5:00 p.m. that all services were restored. A company spokesperson said crews had to repair more than 400 fiber strands that were cut or damaged.  

Aside from residential customers, the interruption interfered with the service with government agencies, including the Larson Justice Center and the La Quinta Public Library.

News Channel 3 is in touch with local law enforcement to find out more information about the reported vandalism.

Johnson estimated all customers could have service restored by the afternoon.

Vandalism to connective material was blamed for recent outages to 911 service, as News Channel 3's reporting uncovered in an I-Team investigation.