Is stealing electricity part of going green?

[slantasaurus]

Never judge a man until you have walked a mile in someone else's carbon footprint.....

[grayghost]

Life is hard but being stooped makes even harder. John Wayne.

The USA is going down the drain.

Corrected for Jon Cole.

Stupid is the correct spelling.

Now that i have fixed this Jon Cole can sleep good tonight.

So in ending I would like to thank Jon Cole for the help.

Thank you Jon.

Edited December 7, 2013 by grayghost

[Joe Handley]

Now, see, in Canada (especially northern Canada) this wouldn't be an issue. Go far enough north and all the parking spaces at malls and sports stadia have outlets for block heaters. All the apartment buildings in Thompson, MB have outlets for their parking spots, as well as the mine for employee and visitor parking. Typical Americans.

I was wondering if somebody was going to bring that up

Thanks!

[Kaleb]

No one thinks twice about plugging phones in when they are low. Like mentioned before. It's five cents if that to charge the car. I'm sure all of us break laws every day. I know most people on here speed and no excuses of five your fine.

Edited December 6, 2013 by Kaleb

[Craig Irwin]

Did you ever hear the old adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch? All of that is figured into a budget somewhere, in rent cost, fees, somewhere the money is collected to pay for those outlets.

I don't think recharging electric cars not owned by the school is in the schools budget. Nor should it be. Aren't most schools under budgeted already?

[Craig Irwin]

Like mentioned before. It's five cents if that to charge the car.

5 cents to charge an electric car? Yeah right......

[rel14]

Welcome to America.. hang on tight, the rides not over yet,,,,the best is yet to come,,,

[Guest]

Call it a hunch. But, I'm willing to bet that that incident wasn't this guys's first time of plugging into the "free" electric at the school. More than likely, he's been mooching off of them for a while and someone there got tired of it. I'm sure the cops there have far more pressing things to do than stake out the school to catch an electric thief. As for the nickel's worth of electric, give me a break! He probably went well past that the moment he plugged in. Can you imagine how much electricity it takes to charge a battery that's powerful enough to move a car? That would be no different than someone saying," Hmmm.. I don't think I have enough gas to get Billy home from school. I'll pull into this gas station and help myself to a gallon of gas. It's only $3.25 a gallon. No one should mind."

[charlie8575]

Idiotic.

I get principle, etc., but are we really SO binary (it looks like possibly on both sides) that we've lost all sense of reason and ration?

Never have I seen a school around here have a problem with something like this. Now, I've never seen an electric car being charged, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened sooner rather than later.

If getting the kid home was a legitimate concern, the school could simply have told the policeman to bugger off.

The Constitution states that thefts in excess of $20 are prosecutable; while there are some exceptions, this case may not pass muster based on that alone. I doubt that it would cost more than about $7-10 to charge that battery, based on the rates in this area (about 8 cents/KwH). This guy barely spun the metre.

The point was brought up that this might not have been his first time doing it. So? If you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, and need a boost because you're trying to be all enviro-nut and insist on driving an all-electric car too far, even you deserve some measure of clemency and safety. As I've heard my dad say many times, "God looks after fools and us, too." If your dead battery is causing a potential safety hazard for you and others, and you have an outlet handy- darn right it's going to get charged.

I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being tossed out of court. The town certainly has more pressing matters than this. That it took eleven days to get this taken care of is telling me exactly how high on the importance scale this was, too. If the police are looking to make an example- they have, but it's of how foolish and unreasoning they are, not of stellar, intelligent law enforcement (a model we need to seriously re-think, as all too often, "law enforcement" seems to be used to brow-beat, bully and raid treasure from the public, and less about actually making sure laws are followed), as opposed to "peace officer", which says to me and most other people that the primary purpose was to preserve public order, not find ways to over-flex muscle.

I am, curious, though, if similar charges are in a pattern or if other cases of people doing this is known?

Charlie Larkin

[Kris Morgan]

Charlie,

You bring up the fact that perhaps he needed the boost to get home safely. That may be the case. However, If was driving a gas powered car, could he take a gallon from a school bus to get home? Taking gas from a school bus sounds much worse than what he did but, is it really?

Not picking on ya. Just bringing up a point. I still am not sure where I stand on this one myself. I see the fact that it may have only been a few pennies but, pennies here pennies there,,,they all add up. Was he wrong? Sure he was. Is jail time a bit much though? I kinda think so.

[rmvw guy]

When I was working as "Paul Blart Mall Cop" at the local mall I was asked by my superior to confront a man plugged into electricity at the mall charging his battery. He was on a scooter chair. Now if I unplugged him he would need a tow to the front door, then to a vehicle outside and I think he would probably have been po'd enough to cause trouble publicly or never come back. I chose to break the rules and give him a polite warning about mall policy for the next time. A repeat offender might be a different story. Why do people have to make things so complicated?

[Harry P.]

The Constitution states that thefts in excess of $20 are prosecutable...

Technically it doesn't talk about theft; it says that "In suits at Common Law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved."

[Fabrux]

Has the Constitution been updated for inflation?

[Erik Smith]

I steal pens from work all the time.

Now, if there are a lot of people "stealing" electricity, then you can't prosecute one person without getting everybody - so…if you plug your cell phone charger into a wall, guilty. If you lug in your laptop, guilty. Is the school district going to commit a resource officer for enforcement? Or can some people who aren't trying to be "green" get away with all the stealing they want? I think the school can make a policy regarding the charging of vehicles and move on - our schools and police have better things to do. My guess is the judge will toss this out...

[Danno]

Now, see, in Canada (especially northern Canada) this wouldn't be an issue. Go far enough north and all the parking spaces at malls and sports stadia have outlets for block heaters. All the apartment buildings in Thompson, MB have outlets for their parking spots, as well as the mine for employee and visitor parking. Typical Americans.

You guys have socialized electricity, too? How long do you have to wait to get a kilowatt? Typical Canadian.

[Kaleb]

I steal pens from work all the time.

Now, if there are a lot of people "stealing" electricity, then you can't prosecute one person without getting everybody - so…if you plug your cell phone charger into a wall, guilty. If you lug in your laptop, guilty. Is the school district going to commit a resource officer for enforcement? Or can some people who aren't trying to be "green" get away with all the stealing they want? I think the school can make a policy regarding the charging of vehicles and move on - our schools and police have better things to do. My guess is the judge will toss this out...

Bingo, now if everyone else would stop ignoring the fact that everyone breaks the law they would stop stressing over something that doesn't even relate to them.

[DonW]

Did the guy leave a note explaining what he'd done, with his contact details so he could arrange to pay his dues? Or make any other attempt to get in touch with the school?

If not then I'd say he was blagging it and deserves whatever punishment the law decides to impose on him. That's how society works, for all it's imperfections. The law is an ass, but that seems a good reason to keep your nose clean so you don't fall foul of it!

[Joe Handley]

You guys have socialized electricity, too? How long do you have to wait to get a kilowatt? Typical Canadian.

That could fall under the title "Customer Service", providing electricity so your customers' cars will start is a pretty good service, and is likely rolled into the pricing of the products sold inside.

[ZTony8]

I wonder how many employees at the school use the electricity there to charge their personal cell phones or other devices.And I bet there's a microwave oven and/ or a fridge in the staff lunch/break rooms.What if one of the staff buys a plug in hybrid or full electric car?Would they be charged with theft for doing the same thing the parent did?I doubt it.To me that's the same same kind of "theft".

[Dr. Cranky]

Like all these types of cases, the ones who end up having all the fun are the attorneys.

[DonW]

Yeah! And us armchair social commentators!

Would it make a good diorama? Aaah... no, maybe not! If he was stealing juice from the Zombies, that'd be more like it!

[niteowl7710]

Yes, theft is theft...but I'm kinda wondering if somebody called 911 hollering "OMG OMG !!! SOMEONE IS STEALING POWER FROM A SCHOOL OUTLET !!! OMG OMG!!!".

Or, are the Chamblee cops so lacking for actual work to do that they have to go looking for folks engaging in unauthorized extension cord use?

I'm quite familiar with that particular Atlanta suburb, and there's a donut shop pretty close by. Maybe waiting for the "hot donuts" sign to light up got so boring, they just had to go looking for someone to bust.

Man, I'm glad they're keeping the world so safe. Another warm-fuzzy making story.

Really...wouldn't a reprimand have been sufficient, and possibly sending the guy to the principle's office to work it all out?

By the way...where were these freaking clowns when all the copper was stripped out of the house I'm renovating?

And please don't get me wrong. I have a lot of respect for law enforcement officers in general, but this is the kind of stupidity that makes people resent authority, and it paints the cops as being...well, you know.

Well the Law Enforcement Agency in question is the DeKalb County School District Department of Public Safety, they patrol the schools, that's their job, it's what they do. Chamblee Police were involved once an arrest needed to be made ("needed") because the School District cops technically don't have authority more than 500' off of District property.

So unless you renovated a house inside a Middle School THESE cops weren't going to stop anything.

He also wasn't "put in jail" he was processed for a criminal offense (no matter how lame a charge *rimshot* it might be), this is Metro Atlanta, not rural Nebraska, you have to go to and through Central Booking.

I also wonder how "oh what's the big deal" all of you would be if this guy just decided to plug his car into your outdoor outlet at your house without asking, or inversely how well Mr. Kamooneh would take to people showing up and charging their cars at HIS house without asking.

[Harry P.]

Well the Law Enforcement Agency in question is the DeKalb County School District Department of Public Safety, they patrol the schools, that's their job, it's what they do. Chamblee Police were involved once an arrest needed to be made ("needed") because the School District cops technically don't have authority more than 500' off of District property.

So unless you renovated a house inside a Middle School THESE cops weren't going to stop anything.

He also wasn't "put in jail" he was processed for a criminal offense (no matter how lame a charge *rimshot* it might be), this is Metro Atlanta, not rural Nebraska, you have to go to and through Central Booking.

I also wonder how "oh what's the big deal" all of you would be if this guy just decided to plug his car into your outdoor outlet at your house without asking, or inversely how well Mr. Kamooneh would take to people showing up and charging their cars at HIS house without asking.

Ditto.

Like James mentioned, the guy was not "jailed" for stealing electricity... he spend several hours in a cell while he was being booked/processed. He was not convicted and jailed for theft.

And yes, the value of what he "stole" (if that's the correct word, which I believe it is) may be trivial, if we say hey, stealing a little is ok... then at what point do we draw the line?

Is it ok to take someone else's electricity to charge your car for 20 minutes? Is it ok to charge up for a few hours? Overnight? At what point does it go from being "ok" to stealing? Is it ok for me to pull into my local gas station and top off my tank for free? Hey, I only needed a gallon... it's trivial. Is helping myself to five gallons ok? Ten?

And his excuse for making what he did ok by saying it's just like taking a drink from the school's water fountain is bogus. The school installs water fountains so that students, staff and visitors can drink from them. The school didn't install an electrical outlet for this guy to help himself to it and charge his ecomobile.

[Guest]

I also wonder how "oh what's the big deal" all of you would be if this guy just decided to plug his car into your outdoor outlet at your house without asking, or inversely how well Mr. Kamooneh would take to people showing up and charging their cars at HIS house without asking.

Exactly James! I used to work in construction and whenever I was working on a new house with no electricity (pretty rare occurance,but it happens), I would politely ask a neighbor if they would mind if I used their electric. If there was no one home or they didn't want me to use their electric, I would go rent a generator. Sure, I could've plugged into someone's house who happened to not be home and they may have never known. But, I always look at things in the other person's place. Would I want someone plugging into my house with out my permission? NO WAY! It only takes a minute to ask permission. Mr. Kamooneh could have avoided his situation by having a modicum of courtesey. Too many people today have the illusion of intitlement.

[Joe Handley]

If somebody is in that big a need of a charge, I'd have no problem letting them plug in for a little bit, don't see that as any different than give them a lift to a gas station...........probably cheaper since you're not making a trip to the gas station using your gas