Whatcom County resident damages water tower wiring

A Whatcom County man believed to be suffering from mental health problems reportedly broke into a Columbia Valley Water District water tower Monday and caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damage.

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked Greg Alvin Botteron, 42 of Maple Falls, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of charges including first-degree malicious mischief and second-degree burglary.

Last August, Botteron reportedly was seen cutting power lines and damaging meter boxes and told sheriff’s deputies he was doing so as instructed by Ariana Grande to prevent Russian KGB agents from poisoning the U.S. with nuclear toxins. According to Whatcom County Superior Court documents, he is scheduled for a May 11 jury trial for two counts of malicious mischief related to that incident.

In the March 9 incident, deputies were called to Maple Falls at 3:27 p.m. for the report of a man on top of a 14-foot water tower at the end of Santa Fe Trail, Chief Deputy Kevin Hester told The Bellingham Herald in an email. The tower, owned by the Columbia Valley Water District, holds approximately 50,000 gallons of water and is surrounded by a 12-foot fence.

The water district manager and commissioner president told deputies that they witnessed Botteron on top of the water tower and had the lid open, Hester reported. Deputies also saw that the fence had been pulled back and clamps holding it to a post had been cut.

The fenced area also included a shed that housed a pressure tank, which deputies saw had been ripped out along with most of the electrical wiring, according to Hester. They also saw wires from a power box, which also was inside the fenced area, had wiring pulled out.

Botteron admitted to deputies that he had been on top of the tower and had caused the damage to the power boxes and insulators from the boxes were found in his pockets at the time he was arrested, Hester reported. Botteron also allegedly had a backpack full of tools, including a pry bar and cutting tools.