Iron Range city councilor cut power to three cities during dispute with utility, charges say

An Iron Range city councilor who allegedly cut a tension wire attached to a power pole earlier this month, knocking out power to three nearby cities, has been charged with three felonies.

Joseph Christopher Vaida, 63, an at-large councilor in McKinley, Minn., a town of about 100 near Virginia, faces charges tied to property damage.

According to the criminal complaint filed in St. Louis County District Court, an employee of Minnesota Power contacted the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office to report that Vaida was threatening to cut a guy-wire that he said was anchored on his property. Vaida gave the company a week to move it.

The deputy contacted Vaida to say it would take the utility company longer than that to figure out what to do about the issue and that if he cut it, he would be criminally charged.

Vaida allegedly cut the wire on the day he promised, leading to the outage in Gilbert, Biwabik and McKinley — though the company was able to restore power to Gilbert and Biwabik. Minnesota Power told law enforcement that the ground around the cut wire was dangerous and could potentially electrocute someone.

Officers arrested Vaida near his home and found a pair of metal cutters and an ax in his truck. According to the criminal complaint, the area around the guy-wire looked like someone had been trying to dig it up. Someone had placed barbed wire around the dig site.

Vaida’s next hearing is June 6.