(Lander, WY) – The August 15 power outage that left over 5,000 Rocky Mountain Power customers without service Tuesday morning into the early afternoon, was reportedly caused by a 15-year-old, according the Lander Police Department (LPD).
The juvenile was in a family vehicle that ultimately crashed into the powerline pole, LPD Public Information Officer (PIO) Duane Kaiser told County 10, with various social media comments indicating that power was then affected around 4:30 AM.
Rocky Mountain Power subsequently had to conduct an emergency outage while the downed line was repaired, which left 5,376 customers without power from approximately 8:30 to 11:00 AM, including city and county government buildings, and local medical providers.
There was no alcohol reported to have been involved in the incident, and the subject was treated and released, Kaiser added.
The official incident report has not been completed or made public, so further details or pending charges are not available at this point.
In Wyoming, the legal driving age is 17, 16 ½ if the driver education course has been completed, or 14-15 if a Restricted Learner’s Permit has been legally obtained.
County 10 will provide updates when made available.