In the latest interaction between cable techs and the general public that has resulted in arrest, two Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) techs are safe after an Austin, Texas resident allegedly pointed a gun at them and threatened the pair.
According to the local ABC affiliate, Tegna-owned KVUE-TV, the two workers were trying to deal with an outage and traced the problem to a specific residence on the 8300 block of Alum Rock Drive.
In a police report, the TWC employees said they knocked on the door to request access to the back yard. They said they were greeted by Roberto Benavides, 38, who told them to get lost.
Undeterred, the techs said they grabbed a ladder and began to try to access the TWC box without Benavides' cooperation. They said they tried to present Benavides with an easement rights letter, and that's when he allegedly pulled the gun on them and told them they had "two seconds to leave."
The tech workers then filed their police report. Benavides, meanwhile, called 911 and delivered a story that reportedly didn't jibe with what he would later tell police. For example, he denied to the police that he knew the pair were TWC installers, even though he referred to them as such on his 911 call.
Benavides was then arrested.
"We're thankful our employees weren't harmed. We are working with local law enforcement as their investigation continues," TWC said in a statement.
As FierceInstaller noted in November, operators including TWC suitor Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) have begun pulling tech operations inhouse, partly due to the inability to control the behavior of outside contractors.
Of course, this doesn't help much if it's the residents who are breaking bad.
For more:
- read this KVUE-TV report
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