Vandals Bump Spanish Station Off The Air - 4 Radio Towers Toppled
By Brent Whiting
Tom Duran, the station manager, said there was no immediate indication when the station would be back on the air. It could take "several weeks," Duran said.
"It's disheartening to know that somebody would do damage like this to a federally licensed facility," he said.
He said he was unable to say whether the damage may be linked to recent immigration unrest throughout the nation. He said the FBI will be asked to investigate.
The station is owned by Entravision Communications Corp., a Santa Monica, Calif., firm that operates a string of Spanish stations throughout California and the Southwest, including KLNZ-FM (103.5) in the Valley, also known as Radio Tri-Color.
Quayle, the sheriff's spokeswoman, said the vandalism occurred late Tuesday at the Krazy Horse Ranch Polo Club, which is west of Interstate 17 and about 30 miles north of Phoenix.
Investigators have determined that somebody used a blowtorch to cut the steel support rods to four of the towers, causing them to crash to the ground, she said.
The ranch manager heard the towers crash, but there were no injuries to people or horses, Quayle added.
The towers, which went up in the late 1990s, became the focus of a contentious lawsuit involving Black Canyon City residents opposed to the cluster.
The opponents won a key ruling in 2000 when the Arizona Court of Appeals validated a referendum seeking to put the issue before Yavapai County voters.
Opponents lost their bid to have the towers torn down when voters approved the cluster in November 2002.