Arrest for theft of 5 cents of electricity

FWIW- we had a guy (well known around here as the local dumbass) who got arrested for stealing dirt a few years back!
It seems the highway dept. had dumped some dirt on the side of the road in the am for a project scheduled for later that day. The local dumbass had spotted it while driving by- stopped, backed up his pickup up to the pile and proceeded to start shoveling into his truck. Too bad for him that a town cop happened to pass by and witnessed the theft- dumbass got arrested on the spot for stealing dirt from the town

 

Thew new Leaf's can pull 6.6KW, but only with an L2 EVSE capable of it. With the L1 trickle charger you are limited to less than 1.5KW charge (110VAC @ 13A). So 20 minutes at 1.5KW is 0.5KW. In CO we pay 10c per KWh so that would be 5 cents. In GA if you really pay 3c KWh it would be 1.5 cents worth.

Give a penny, take a penny... Hogging all your resources is silly. I allow people to plug in at my house for free, it is only a few minutes from an interstate. Many businesses realize that by allowing people to charge for free, they may take 50 cents in power, but they will spend tens of dollars at your store.

I am fortunate that my employer allows me to plug in at work for free. And when talks of a building expansion arose, actual dedicated L2 chargers were talked about which is exciting.

 

Of course the guy shouldn't have been charging his car without permission. But I wonder if the cop would have had him arrested if he was just charging his phone?
IMO, he should have just told him to unplug.

Mike

 

I wonder if some day I'll get arrested in airports for plugging in my mobile devices... We've all done it!

 

In places with outlets everywhere for engine block heaters, it is very common to get out and plug in to an outlet. If you don't you petrol will freeze and the car won't start. Likewise if you don't with an EV, potentially the car won't have enough juice. It is just common courtesy, give to those around you. It's not harming anyone.

 

that's right L1 is realistically about 1kwh - or 3/4 kWh for 40 minutes - but there's a spot in the video that shows the "criminal" holding an L2 evse. At L1 - 40 minutes would only yield 4 extra miles or so of range. I'm hoping nobody is that huge of a cheap skate
.

 

I refuse to watch news videos online so I didn't see that part. But why would the school have a L2 charger but not allow it to be used? Or if it could be used, then why not charge for it?

Are you sure the video just wasn't the news reporter saying "hey lets get a picture of you plugging in the car and your charger" and then talking over it about the story. I have seen lots of disjointed stories like that where they are saying one thing describing something entirely different than what they are showing on the screen.

 

Hey when I was growing up?
My mother told me stealing was stealing...theft was theft, didn't really matter whether it was 5 cents or $100.

I have little or no sympathy for this guy.

In the interview he says it was something he had done before. My guess is if the police so quickly showed up, that would tell me he had probably been doing it numerous times in the past, and someone had had enough and was waiting for him to do it again.

And everyone knows that an outside outlet is not someones personal charge station. He knew what he was doing...5 cents or otherwise.

As electric vehicles/rechargeable hybrids become more popular and common, this guy is doing no good for his brethren by thinking and acting like any outside available outlet, public, private or otherwise is his to use.

Airports are in existence for the convenience and use of the public and traveler, therefore I think it is expected that travelers would in transit, use outlets while they are waiting to power or recharge personal devices.

This was a "Saturday"- closed Middle School. He evidently had no permission nor did he seek permission to use the outlet.

I would go so far as to say arresting him at home 11 days later seems excessive in reaction. A warning,- perhaps a symbolic fine I think would of been appropriate.

Or perhaps the local Police could invest into an Electric Vehicle and simply drop by and use his outlet at his home occasionally for a recharge?

 

That part of the video appeared to be taken at the guy's house. It was in a driveway in a residential neighborhood.

 

We can assume and put reasons behind anything we do. But I just don't think anyone should be criticizing this guy when you have "stolen" electricity at airports, it's hypocritical. The bottom line is we don't ask for permission for plugging in at airports and we assume it's allowed.

 

I simply disagree.

I think there is a huge difference between being in an open and operating public airport which is designed for the convenience of the modern traveler and using open and available outlets while waiting for a plane or to pick up a passenger. My guess is that is simply accepted operating procedure in most if not all airports.

This is in quite a bit of contrast to some guy with a LEAF driving to a school on a day it is closed and plugging into an outside outlet. It is not accepted operating procedure for closed public schools to provide outlets and recharging for electric vehicles.

 

I wonder if this guy had been plugging in every Saturday for free, running up a large bill for the school. Abusing their resources. Either way it wasn't his to take, though there are two sides to every story.

 

Considering that we can have many assault suspects booked and released in a couple hours, and convictions for first time lessor offenders usually draw suspended sentences, the 15 hours of detention was also excessive.

Yes, a message needed to be sent. A USPS letter with a date for a court appearance date would have done that.

 

I don't think the argument here is about the school being closed at the time of use. I mean would it make a difference to you if he plugged it in when school was in session? He's arrested because he did not ask for permission and that's why I brought up airport.

 

Maybe he was at the police station for 15 hours because he was so kind and respectfull to all the officers while he was being booked!

 

Let's see, 10 cents an hour, if he was there 10 hours every Saturday, that's like a whole dollar a week! What a large bill! Now let's weigh that against the the cost of the paperwork, processing fees, judicial fees related to the court hearing that will likely happen, etc. Just another case of a police officer showing off how small of a D he had in high school...

On a more serious note, I agree that some sort of policy needs to be setup in order to prevent people from taking advantage of the system, however this situation should have been resolved without anyone going to jail... And until more public chargers start appearing over the country this will continue to happen, it probably just won't make the news.

 

As a very new PIP and first time Prius) owner, it does feel like a game to be able to plug in. My wife plugs in at home and ChargePoint at work. The day I drove off the dealer lot to a friend's that night, I sure as heck asked to plug in 'because I was so jazzed at this new phenomenon. I also had fun sharing the 4 hour old experince of being a plug in driver. Also in newbie mode, at my brother's for the big family Thanksgiving gathering, of course I had to show off our new PIP.

I do appreciate the perspective from experience (and maybe just newbie'ness wearing off ), that asking a friend I am visiting for .42¢ could seem weird. I will meter my game play mentality when visiting (though we usually don't carry the cord with us). I appreciate the awareness. tks

 

A dollar a week? OK, that's $52 a year. Can I pop over to yours and steel a few plants from your garden? Surely you won't mind. Hey what's $5 a plant. Maybe I'll steel your mail box or your outside light? Surely that's not worth $50?

I wonder if you'd mind if I stole one of your hub caps.

Theft is theft.

 

The Leaf owner may have gone overboard with the "dirty the air" comment.. but seriously, wth was the cop doing inside his car? And "abandoned on public property" huh???? the 15 hours at the station sound like retribution for what the police probably saw as defiance.

In other words, if he would've apologized and overlooked the police officer sitting in his car, there would've been no issue. But since he questioned the officer, he goes to jail.