Austin Police say the Texas Gas Services malfunction that left more than 1,000 homes without service was actually a case of criminal mischief.

“During the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2010, an unknown person(s) disrupted natural gas service to numerous customers in west Austin. It was determined by Texas Gas Service that someone had closed a shut-off valve located on the southwest corner of Westlake Dr and N. Capital Of Texas Hwy,” a press release from APD last week stated.

When reached by telephone, a police spokesperson said that Texas Gas Services faced a similar, albeit smaller scale incident earlier this year when someone allegedly tampered with the valve near the corner of FM 2222 and RR 620.

Texas Gas Services spokesperson Lori Moreno would not comment on the type of safety measures that the company has in place to prevent this type of crime from happening.

“We’ve involved the police authorities, and they’ve asked us not to comment on the specifics,” she said.

At the moment, police say they have no leads in the case and are asking anyone with any information to contact crime stoppers at 472-8477 or the APD North Detectives at 974-5917.