NEW YORK COMPUTER CIRCUIT CARDS STOLEN FROM VERIZON FACILITY Newsday.com - AP RegionalFriday, November 26, 2004

Arrests in theft of circuit cards that affected 911 service in parts of Westchester

November 26, 2004, 3:06 PM EST

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Two men were accused in federal court Friday of stealing more than $1 million worth of computer components linked to local 911 emergency services and conspiring to ship them to a company in California.

The theft of the computer chip boards, valued at $5,000 to $70,000 apiece, resulted in the disruption of 911 service over seven hours in parts of Westchester County, authorities said.

Police said no ambulance delays or other serious consequences were reported as a result of the 911 disruption, which occurred late Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.

The defendants, Larry Davis, 43, of Brooklyn, and Gailican Phillips, 34, of Manhattan, were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith in White Plains on a charge of conspiracy to transport stolen goods across state lines. They were jailed immediately, and Davis was scheduled for a bail hearing Monday.

According to a complaint filed by FBI Agent Stephen Tortorella, who investigated the case, the defendants "removed the computer chip boards from communications systems within the Verizon building, and planned to deliver them to a conspirator not named as a defendant herein, who intended to ship them to a company in California."

He said the boards belonged to several different communications companies in a downtown White Plains building owned by Verizon.

Verizon's equipment and service were not affected because the theft occurred in an area that it leases to the other telecommunications companies, said Verizon spokesman Dan Diaz.

Authorities declined to name the other companies.

The complaint said the defendants were arrested shortly after they were spotted outside the building "pushing carts containing a large number of computer chip boards."

It was not clear how the men got inside the building, which Diaz described as tightly secured. Police said they did not believe the men worked there.

White Plains Police Inspector Daniel Jackson said "there is a market" for the computer chip boards, which measure 10-inches-by-12-inches. They are secured by a clip and can easily be removed, he said.

Jackson said the FBI was called because police did not know what they were dealing with, but he added that all the law enforcement agencies concluded that the break-in was not an act of terrorism.

He said the National Infrastructure Coordination Center, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, also was notified because its duties include making sure service is restored in such cases.

A call to the center was not immediately returned.

The 911 outage affected 25,000 residential, business and government customers, including the Town of Greenburgh police station, and began immediately when the circuit boards were stolen at 9:51 p.m. Wednesday, said Jackson.

Greenburgh police said they experienced 911 disruptions between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday.

Diaz said security at the Verizon building, which houses telecommunications equipment and an operations staff for both Verizon and the other companies, consists of video cameras, security

"Security is part of our network and has always been part of our network," he said. "We constantly review our security procedures."