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2 more suspects arrested after another phone line cutting incident in Amador County

AMADOR COUNTY – A suspect who was already on probation for a recent arrest on cutting phone lines has been arrested in Amador County for another incident of AT&T phone lines getting cut.

The Amador County Sheriff's Office says, Sunday evening, dispatchers found that phone lines were down again.

Back in early May, Amador County saw a fiber line cut that knocked out 911 service for hours. The suspects in that incident had cut lines near the intersection of Highways 88 and 123 in Ione.

Dispatchers sent a deputy to that same area after Sunday's incident – and two more people suspected of cutting phone lines were quickly found.

The suspects have been identified as 34-year-old Jose Maldonado and 49-year-old Jose Pardo-Gildo, both Stockton residents. The sheriff's office says Maldonado was already on probation out of San Joaquin County for a recent phone line-cutting arrest; he also had other felony warrants as well.

A freshly cut section of phone line was found near the suspects' vehicle along with a pair of long-handled pruning shears, deputies say.

Both Maldonado and Pardo-Gildo are now facing numerous felony charges.

Unlike May's incident, it doesn't appear that Sunday's phone line cut caused a major disruption to 911 service in Amador County. 

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