An Oakland man accused of cutting a high voltage wire at a PG&E utility box in Redwood City last year was sentenced to two years, four months in state prison Tuesday after he pleaded no contest to felony cutting a utility line in August, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Judge Donald Ayoob denied probation for Alphonso Muhammad, 65, but granted a Romero motion, which requests the judge drop one of his client’s previous strike convictions from consideration in sentencing Tuesday. Muhammad will receive 665 days credit for time served, according to prosecutors.
Muhammad was arrested May 8, 2017, for cutting a high voltage wire in a Pacific Gas and Electric utility box at the intersection of Maple and Marshall streets in downtown Redwood City. A power outage linked to the damage done to the utility box interrupted communication between police officers and dispatchers for several minutes at the nearby Redwood City Police Department office and delayed several non-emergency surgeries at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center just blocks away, according to prosecutors.
A police officer allegedly saw Muhammad holding a toolbox and standing behind the utility box, which was sparking and smoking. When asked what he was doing there, Muhammad allegedly fled and later fought officers when they tried to arrest him. PG&E estimated the damage at $160,000. Police believed Muhammad was attempting to steal copper wire from the box, according to prosecutors.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.