Cops: Vandals cause $1 million in damage to heavy equipment, vehicles near Somerset
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State police are asking for help identifying vandals who caused more than $1 million in damages to about 70 vehicles and 20 pieces of heavy equipment belonging to an international gas exploration and pipeline construction firm last weekend in rural Somerset County.
Trooper Daniel Poponick of the Somerset station reported the vehicles and equipment are owned by Price Gregory International Equipment and were located at an equipment staging yard near West Side Drive in Elk Lick Township, in the southern portion of the county near Salisbury, when vandals struck sometime between 3 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Salisbury is about 4 miles north of the Maryland state line.
Poponick said in a news release vandals gained access to the equipment yard through a wooded area off of Somerset Street in Salisbury.
Poponick said the Houston, Texas-based company, was working on a large pipeline project in the Cumberland, Md., area that ended in October. He said the firm has another large project starting in 2020 in western Pennsylvania.
“They didn’t want to transport all that equipment back to Houston and then have to bring it all back up here again so they were temporarily parking it in that large area near Salisbury,” Poponick said.
“The vandals appeared to use any large object they could pick up to inflict the damage … big rocks, pipes, whatever,” he said.
The trooper said the company has not reported any equipment was stolen.
According to the company’s website, the firm is a leading provider of infrastructure services with a focus on gas and oil pipeline construction. The company was formed through the merger of H.C. Price and Gregory & Cook Construction, two of the largest pipeline construction contractors in the nation with the equipment and capability to build large diameter pipelines.
Company officials at the Houston headquarters did not immediately return telephone calls seeking information on the vandalism. The company also has locations in Alaska and Canada.
“Right now, we’re looking for any information anyone may have,” Poponick said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Poponick at 814-445-4104. Callers to the Somerset state police can also refer to incident number PA2019-1494861 when making reports.