It'll be interesting to see what the court does with this. I wonder what statute he's being charged under? From the Georgia Code: > A person commits the offen

It'll be interesting to see what the court does with this. I wonder what statute he's being charged under? From the Georgia Code: > A person commits the offense of theft by taking when he unlawfully takes or, being in lawful possession thereof, unlawfully appropriates any property of another with the intention of depriving him of the property, regardless of the manner in which the property is taken or appropriated. If he's being charged with theft, it will be interesting to see whether energy is "property of another" in this case. What he took from the school was electrical potential energy. Is that property? If there's a waterfall on public property and I temporarily place a water wheel under it, is that also theft? What about holding a solar cell over top of a solar cell on public property? > A person commits the offense of theft of services when by deception and with the intent to avoid payment he knowingly obtains services, accommodations, entertainment, or the use of personal property which is available only for compensation. This seems to be a poor fit; it's not obvious that electrical charging at a school is a service "available only for compensation", especially if the school permits other people to charge things gratis. The mens rea bit also seems to be a bit of a stretch. Most of the case law seems to be about people bypassing mechanisms the power company uses to bill for the provision of electricity, which fits nicely into the theft of services statute. Either way, should make for interesting case law.