(La Porte County, IN) – It’s day six of being without power for thousands of northwest Indiana residents. Patience is wearing thin. Some people appear to have forgotten their manners.

 

According to La Porte County Commissioner Steve Holifield, on Saturday in an area near Johnson Road, police intervened on behalf of NIPSCO electrical workers. Said Holifield, “We had to send the Sheriff’s Department out. People were harassing and threatening linemen.”

 

Holifield said workers were temporarily blocking a roadway to install new equipment; meanwhile, "people were screaming and yelling at them." Holifield said he called local law enforcement, and a Sheriff’s patrol arrived to monitor the situation.

 

A more serious incident involving linemen happened Friday night in Gary, where a NIPSCO service truck was struck by at least two bullets. Work there was halted while authorities investigated. Indiana State Police have since dispatched extra patrols to Gary.

 

Holifield says he’s been out talking to electrical workers, many of whom have come to La Porte County from far away. “They’re getting tired, they’re getting worn out,” Holifield said. “They’re having a hard time procuring supplies. This is the worst outage they’ve ever seen.”

 

Holifield said ComEd crews have arrived to the area from Illinois with supplies. The National Guard rolled into La Porte on Saturday to help coordinate resources. “We’ve also got a couple of volunteer groups that have come through here,” Holifield added. “They’re going out basically to help move brush away from people’s yards. He stressed that all of these workers need to be given respect and cooperation.

 

According to Holifield, local leaders will meet at 7:30 Monday morning to discuss allocating new resources. He encourages anyone needing special assistance to text him at (219) 304-3164.