Cops Nab Electric Leaf Owner Before He Can Ride Free On Your Nickel

by Thomas Kreutzer

December 4th, 2013 8:30 PM

cops nab electric leaf owner before he can ride free on your nickel

The owner of a Nissan Leaf was arrested in Georgia last week for stealing 5 cents worth of electricity after he plugged his car into the exterior outlet at a local middle school while his son was playing tennis.

According to Atlanta’s NBC affiliate, 11 Alive, the car had only been plugged in for a few minutes when a police officer arrived and informed the man that he was committing theft and directed him to unplug the car. Later, after verifying the school had not given the man permission to use the outlet, the officer pursued an arrest warrant. The man was arrested by two deputies who appeared at his home 11 days later and spent more than 15 hours in the DeKalb County Jail before making bail.

Advocates of electric vehicles will decry this as police over reach and argue that amount of energy involved was negligible. The police, on the other hand, have taken a tough, no nonsense approach and, in their opinion, theft is theft no matter how little was stolen. I’m left asking is this what our society has come to? What kind of dumbass figures that he can charge his car for free wherever he stops? On the other hand, what kind of cop is petty enough to chase a guy down for a nickel? I wonder, would the cops have rolled in on this guy if he had “stolen” water from the drinking fountain at the side of the school to fill a leaky radiator? Clearly, the only ones who are going to win this battle will be the lawyers.

#NissanLeaf #Police #Theft #WTF

Comments

Join the conversation

15 of 221 comments

Sideshowtom98 on Dec 05, 2013

A few years ago the DeKab County Sheriff was arrested for putting out a contract murder on his election opponent. He was convicted of murder. These are who the fine of DeKalb vote for.

Like Reply
- Jz78817 on Dec 05, 2013
  
  yes, I'm sure the voters intentionally elected someone they knew was a murderer. :rolleyes:
  
  Like
Jpolicke on Dec 05, 2013

The story as told on the link says the Leaf driver "routinely plugs into publicly accessible outlets". So this guy thinks he's entitled to mooch free power all over town. How many people are out there like him? The message needs to go out loud and clear that this is not OK or Home Depot better stock up on locking outlet covers.

Like Reply
- See 5 previous
- SCE to AUX on Dec 05, 2013
  
  Good question. Not this Leaf driver, anyway. But to be fair, we're really talking about degrees here. If you plug your laptop in at McDonald's, why is that OK but an EV isn't? (My EV costs me about $0.65/day in electricity, and - if I used it - my local grocery store has a Level 2 charger available for free.)
  
  Like
- 285exp on Dec 05, 2013
  
  @SCE to AUX It takes a bit more electricity to recharge an EV than it does a laptop or cellphone, and I suspect McDonalds wouldn't be keen on you running your charge cord inside to recharge your car. On the other hand, if McDonalds puts some free car chargers outside for their customers, that's fine. If you plugged up to their external outlets without their permission, not so fine. This really isn't too hard: If a place expressedly provides facilities for you to plug in your car, it's ok to do it. If they don't, and you ask and receive permission, it's ok to do it. Otherwise, you are committing a theft of utilities, and just saying that you're not stealing too much is a poor excuse. You honest EV owners should be the ones denouncing this freeloader the most, he's making you look bad.
  
  Like
- Mnm4ever on Dec 05, 2013
  
  @285exp I think the question isn't should he be allowed to do it or not, the point is, should be be arrested for it, especially when he complied and removed the plug when asked.
  
  Like
- Pch101 on Dec 05, 2013
  
  @mnm4ever At this point, the only subject worthy of debate is the form of capital punishment that he deserves. The electric chair provides the greatest opportunities for irony, of course, but the guillotine could be a real crowd pleaser.
  
  Like
- 285exp on Dec 05, 2013
  
  mnm4ever, Did you read the article? Unless the officer is flat out lying and framing him, when he was asked to stop stealing the schools electricity he was argumentative and accused the officer of damaging his car, he didn't meekly apologize and willingly cease. He didn't even bother to go over to see what the officer was doing at his car, the guy he was playing tennis with did. If the officer caught someone in the act of siphoning gas from a car he wasn't entitled to siphon from, does it make it all ok because he stopped? The guy didn't have a kid at that school, and even if he did he had no right to plug his car up to their outlet, and I suspect that if he had not done this before and that he had not been previously asked not to use the schools' tennis courts and that he had not been an ass when the officer informed him that he couldn't do it, he'd never have been arrested.
  
  Like
- Pch101 on Dec 05, 2013
  
  @mnm4ever Giving him a ticket would have probably been sufficient.
  
  Like
Mnm4ever on Dec 05, 2013

"Stealing" electricity is not the same as stealing gas or food. Just the value of it alone is insignificant. If you want to punish this guy for plugging his Leaf in then you also need to prosecute anyone who plugs in a cell phone or a laptop, or anyone who drinks from a water fountain. I think its very clear that many people are extremely resentful towards electric car owners and just want them punished.

Like Reply
- See 3 previous
- 285exp on Dec 05, 2013
  
  So if your neighbor buys an electric car and charges it from your outlet, you'd be ok with that?
  
  Like
- Mnm4ever on Dec 05, 2013
  
  @285exp Thats not what this guy did. He plugged it in for an hour or so while his kid played soccer. And yes, if someone needed to juice up for an hour or so, I would gladly allow it. And even if I didn't want him to, I would simply ask him not to do it, I wouldn't want him arrested for it. These hard line legal definitions are silly, like others have posted, you going to ticket someone for going 66 in a 65? You need to use some common sense when it comes to laws. That's why we live in a society and not a police state.
  
  Like
- SCE to AUX on Dec 05, 2013
  
  @285exp: Interestingly, there is a network of do-good homeowners who have added their homes to the EV charging network. This means that if you're stuck, you can give them a call and they'll try to accommodate you. Obviously, helping someone in a bind who asks is much different than them helping themselves to your power, but one reason they do it is because it's economically cheap to do so - once. However, I have not added my home to that network for a variety of reasons.
  
  Like
- 285exp on Dec 05, 2013
  
  @SCE to AUX SCE: I think that's great, and if people voluntarily offer to help out other range-impaired drivers then good on them, but that's entirely different than someone helping themselves to power from outlets that are not designated as free. If some poor EV driver coasted up to my house, knocked on the door, and asked permission to plug up to my outlet for a couple of bucks worth of electricity I'd have no problem. If I found him plugged up without permission I would. I realize that the amount of electricity involved here is not great, and part of that is because they made him stop, but the initial reporting puts this guy in a much more favorable light than the subsequent reporting, and I have to admit that I will be skeptical of the account of a proven petty thief who apparently feels entitled to plug up wherever he pleases.
  
  Like
50merc on Dec 05, 2013

Hanging is too good for that scoundrel! Future headlines: "Starbucks patron arrested for plugging iPad into wall outlet." And "Traveler nabbed using electric shaver in airport restroom." Ve must haff discipline! To hell with proportionality!

Like Reply