11 ms·

Electric Car owner charged for stealing electricity from school

31 points by jusben1369 13y ago

jusben1369 13y ago
It's interesting. Putting aside the actual value and concentrating on the behavior. If a driver knew that a school keep gasoline for filling up buses or other purposes and went and topped up his car while his son played tennis he/she would be fully aware that they were stealing. They may still do it, but it wouldn't make the papers and/or they wouldn't act surprised if they were caught "Oh can't anyone take the petrol if they need it?"
- mschuster91 13y ago
  The difference here is the perception: while everyone knows petrol is an expensive good, many people don't view electricity as something stealable - it's not really tangible, and you're dealing in amounts that can be fractions of a cent.
  - nodata 13y ago
    How much does an electric car cost to charge?
    - peterjancelis 13y ago
      High single digit dollars.
    - mschuster91 13y ago
      I don't know the specs of US wall outlets, but on a standard European wall outlet with 16A @230V a charge time of 20 minutes (as in the article) should give a energy consumption of approximate 1 kWh (US should be 16A @110V IIRC, so the power consumption is 0.5 kWh), given a price of 10 ct/kWh we have a cost of 10 cents. Now, if you count in the time cost for law enforcement (15 hours in jail, the petrol from picking up the suspect and re-delivering him home, multiple hours of paperwork), the cost of enforcement is likely to be tens of thousands times more expensive than the value of the "stolen" goods. But hey, the US aren't exactly known for applying common sense in law enforcement. And anyone placing a open wall outlet without a lock on a totally public area (a parking lot!) is not in any position to whine later on.
      - mikeash 13y ago
        I must disagree most strenuously with your last sentence. A person does not need to take steps to secure his belongings in order to have the right to complain about theft. Leaving the stuff unlocked is not particularly wise, but theft is still theft when it's easy, and the victim still has a right to his property.
        mschuster91 13y ago
        Public electricity supplies on parking lots are on the rise - I personally would consider a wall outlet on a parking lot without a lock or sign as a free-to-charge-my-car outlet.
        mikeash 13y ago
        Around here, all such supplies have clear signage that they're available to the public. Maybe it's different where you are?
        jessaustin 13y ago
        Where is "here"? I've lived all over the USA and in various other nations, and the only place I've seen signs like that is inside the secured zone at certain airports.
        mikeash 13y ago
        They're all over the place in Northern Virginia, and I saw a bunch in California when I was there recently too. They look something like this: http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2012/12/public-charging-station.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2012/12/publ...
        jessaustin 13y ago
        Well that's a non sequitur. We're talking about a standard NEMA 5-15 receptacle, which have seen wide use for decades. In the parking context, they're often used in cold climates to ensure that the vehicle will start sometime before spring. Now you show us a picture of one of these new EV doodads that might not even have a standard plug. What is that supposed to mean? The creation of a new technology doesn't change the implicit understanding that millions of people have about really old technology. However, it might mean that managers of public spaces who have their drawers on a bit too tight, ought to buy either a sign or some padlocks.
    - jusben1369 13y ago
      In the US (IL specifically) I saw an article that said $2 per 85 miles (about 140km) driven. So let's say you're in the US and you really care about the cost of driving (one of the main reasons for you getting an electric car) you might compare to a gasoline car getting 30 - 40 mpg. At roughly $3.50 per gallon right now We could round up and say you're paying $8 to $9 to get that same 85 miles with a (by American standards) fuel efficient car. So if you're paying $40 - $50 to fill your car thats' about $10 in electricity. Of course if you've got a 6 cylinder with some regular traffic driving you're probably much closer to 20mpg so you're at $15 vs $2 above. Pretty meaningful. (yes I'm ignoring other costs involved including setting up your house to charge a car and the additional cost for an electric car up front vs its gasoline peer)
  - bmelton 13y ago
    I'll agree with that and add to it as well -- there's also the perception that powering up a whole car is an expensive endeavor. I can easily imagine that the cop who saw the guy plugged in probably saw dollars trickling from the wall, where a cell phone plugged in wouldn't seem as expensive. I feel like petty theft incidents like this for first-time offenders should be handled more delicately -- e.g., he can pay back the amount stolen, and perhaps a $50 court cost, but while I agree that jail seems excessive for the crime, there was indeed a crime committed, and perhaps illustrating to the officers that it was only 5 cents worth of crime would lessen the severity.
- ZeroGravitas 13y ago
  A closer analogy would be taking water from an outside tap, which again putting the value aside (even though it's much closer), people would be highly surprised to see someone arrested for theft of water and would actually think that outside taps in a public place might be intended to be used by the public who have access to the facilities.
  - 001sky 13y ago
    This is a good analogy. For reference, a Telsa Model S is like lining up 14,000 people to take a sip. An iPhone is one person.[1] So, in this case the issue is what happens when you exploit a social norm by 3x orders of magnitude? One the one hand its a "hack", on the other its "opportunistically, selfishly gaming the system". YMMV. [1] This is back of the envelope, 5.77wh vs 85kwhr.
    - dkokelley 13y ago
      FYI, it was a Nissan Leaf according to the article, not a Tesla. The Leaf has a more modest 24 kWh battery. (So you're really only lining up ~4,000 people and only letting the first few hundred take a sip.)
    - freehunter 13y ago
      I know people turn on the taps in schools and leave them running after they leave, letting the water flow uselessly while no one is there. My high school had plenty of broken urinals that were constantly running water, or had the plunger stuck down. Someone may get detention for that stunt, but never arrested.
  - bane 13y ago
    Now lets say I put a small electric motor on that tap and turn it on for a few hours so I can charge my phone or a few days to charge my car? (don't think I didn't toy with the idea when I lived in an apartment with water included in the rent but not electricity).
    - bananacurve 13y ago
- 001sky 13y ago
  What is the diference between a car and an iPhone? I could very well see a kid charging his iPhone at soccer practice to call mom for a ride home (or whatever). The issue is a commercial grade of service vs an residential or amateur one. The behaviour (say, recharging your laptop at starbucks) is not inherently larceny ("theft of property") in terms of social norms. Or are you suggesting it should be?
  - mikeash 13y ago
    I personally find it quite odd that we've normalized the behavior of plugging electronics into random electrical outlets not explicitly labeled for public use. Not that I haven't done my fair share of the same over the years (especially in airports), but it's strange just the same.
    - cptskippy 13y ago
      I've always found it odd as well, so I was happy to see the terminals at a number of airports this summer all offering copious outlets for passengers to top-up devices.
    - NickM 13y ago
      In most parts of the US it costs less than a tenth of a cent to charge an iPhone. I think it would be extremely rare that any business or organization would choose saving the minuscule cost of electricity over allowing people who need a charge to take one, so in practice it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume it's okay in most situations.
  - leephillips 13y ago
    My wife will not plug in her iPhone to charge it at work. It all depends on your ethical standards. I, on the other hand, never thought twice about doing this. EDIT: Didn't think I would have to actually explain this, but here goes: the phone is for her personal use, unlike the computer, monitor, and other things on her desk supplied, along with the electricity, by her employer.
    - 13y ago
- makhanko 13y ago
  I wonder if using outlet would be considered a fair use of the facilities. The car owner's son was playing tennis at the school which means he was given a permission to use the facility. If this is the case then using the parking lot, drinking fountain, water in the bathroom, light or electric outlet at the school should be considered a fair use unless there is something that indicates otherwise (like a no-parking sign)
jdludlow 13y ago
Already covered on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6844702 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6844702
phorese 13y ago
> charged Heh.
- microtherion 13y ago
  At least the car owner was not charged with battery.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
    - jusben1369 13y ago
      Go ahead. Mock us because we're plugged in to such a current story.
      - RankingMember 13y ago
        Reddit leaking?
paulyg 13y ago
I agree that this person should not have been using the school's electricity to charge his car. But to have him arrested is an extreme over reaction. The punishment does not fit the crime. That is what I take away from this story.
- jusben1369 13y ago
  Well to be a stickler for detail being arrested isn't the punishment. If he was taken to the police station then let off with a warning that would be his actual punishment. However I agree that it's a rather extreme response from the onsite officer.
  - jack-r-abbit 13y ago
    Sgt. Ford says the officer should have arrested Kamooneh on the spot. But he didn't. Instead, the officer filed a police report. Then 11 days passed, and two deputies showed up at his house in Decatur. [snip] Ford said he sought the arrest warrant after determining that school officials hadn't given Kamooneh permission to plug in his car. The onsite officer did exactly as he should. He filed a report. And then the officer's boss (Sgt. Ford) got the arrest warrant later. And then 2 other officers made the arrest. So there was more than just one person involved here.
Loic 13y ago
I suppose that in nearly every other country in the world, the police would not come, but a staff of the school would simply tell the car owner to just unplug his car and not do it again. But maybe people like that should be sent in front of a court to give judges some work because the don't have enough work yet. This would be great, steal 5 cents of power, go in front of a court, active the police and the judiciary system, create 1000's $ of invoices, increase the GDP of the country!
- cujo 13y ago
  Just stop with this nonsense. There's likely more story here than what the article provides. Most likely he had been told before not to plug in, has an unrelated dispute with someone at the school, etc. Not every story needs to be an excuse to rant against the system.
  - hmottestad 13y ago
    There just seems to be so many of these great little nuggets coming from across the pond. Offhand: "Don't tase me bro"
    - jessaustin 13y ago
      Nothing to see here! Move along!
  - thrillgore 13y ago
    >Not every story needs to be an excuse to rant against the system. B...but what else will go on HN to do?
- jusben1369 13y ago
  Hmmm. A couple of thoughts. One, it sounds like it's outside of school hours. (after school practise). So not sure how many school employees are left. And while I hear you on the strong response for a minor offense in general it's becoming clearer that the worst thing police can do is look the other way at minor infractions. The "one broken window" approach to policing.
VLM 13y ago
The journalist needs to put a tiny little bit more effort into it.... The real story is likely something along the lines of the usual labor dispute, or this guy is dating an ex-girlfriend of someone in mgmt, or he filed a complaint and this is the anti-whistleblower reaction. As a resident of a northern tier state this story from Georgia is weird because most people up here have block heaters and they will plug into any hole it'll fit into. The current draw of a block heater is wildly variable but then again they're wildly more popular. Pretty much, nobody blinks at this behavior as long as you don't do something idiotic/dangerous like run an extension cord across a road/walkway or thru a puddle of water. There's a reason they put those electrical outlets at the base of the lightpost and it's not to encourage stupid extension cord triplines.
Mikeb85 13y ago
Maybe it's because Canada is so cold (at this exact moment the temperature is minus 20C with a foot or two of snow on the ground) and block heaters in cars were the norm for so long, but just about every parking lot (that isn't in a shopping centre) has electric outlets here. At schools, apartment buildings, etc.... When I park my car at the University there's electric outlets for every single stall (of course nowadays most cars start easily without block heaters). Electricity is cheap enough that being able to 'plug in' is generally acceptable anywhere, except where explicitly forbidden...
xvolter 13y ago
This sounds like a situation that was just blown out of partition. An officer who cares about the theft of five cents on a single occasion is an officer with too much free time. Does he realize how much his five minutes cost tax payers when he was telling this guy about how he stole? And seriously? Stole! Five cents of electricity from a public school? The guy's a tax payer (assumption), therefore, if you follow the money, somehow he paid for the electricity to begin with. If you take that aside even more, it's better for him to steal five cents of electricity than drive a gasoline car, I'd gladly allow random strangers to charge from my parking lot outlets if it encouraged more people to go green. Considering tax money also gives free electricity to people who cannot afford it, hypothetically, if this guy was on a financial assistance program to pay for his utilities would it still be stealing considering the money is coming from the same place? It's not like five cents would hold either, the moment this is disputed it'd be dropped.
kmlymi 13y ago
I know that this person wasn't doing this, but would it be feasible to charge the car up at school, and then once at home use the car as a generator to save on his electricity bill?
frogpelt 13y ago
1. The guy who stole the electricity would want someone to ask before they used his electricity. 2. I doubt the police officer would arrest anyone in his family for doing something this petty. Principled thinking would have resolved the conflict before it started.
gesman 13y ago
Your tax dollars at work!
ufmace 13y ago
Sounds like there's gotta be more to the story. Any sane officer, school, jurisdiction, would have either ignored it or told the guy to knock it off and then left him alone. For there to be an actual arrest, probably either the cop is a raging dickhead (unlikely), the guy was a raging dickhead to the cop (rather more likely), or the guy was involved in some unrelated prior dispute that this is retaliation for. For criminal charges to be filed and not dismissed the first time a DA or judge sees it, it kinda implies either the unrelated dispute or the entire legal system in the area is full of raging dickheads all covering for each other.
- jessaustin 13y ago
  ...either the cop is a raging dickhead (unlikely)... Is this a "privileged" statement?
- thrillgore 13y ago
  It's Suburban Atlanta. Every cop is a raging dickhead with quotas on their mind.
startupfounder 13y ago
Let's look at the facts: 5 cents. The Nissan LEAF gets 3.16 mi/kWh[1]. When plugged into a standard household outlet for 20 minutes you get 1.67 miles of driving (1 hour = 5 miles)[2], which by my calculation is 0.52848101 kWh of electricity. As the elementary school is in CHAMBLEE, Ga. the utility provider is Georgia Power[3]. The highest electricity rate for a school is 10.9269¢ per kWh. So a man got arrested in front of his kids and community for "stealing" $0.0577465918[4]. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-CR1211-69 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-CR1211-69 [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-84 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-84 [3]http://www.georgiapower.com/pricing/files/rates-and-schedules/7.00_sch-15.pdf http://www.georgiapower.com/pricing/files/rates-and-schedule... [4]http://www.11alive.com/news/article/314666/40/Electric-car-owner-charged-with-stealing-5-cents-worth-of-juice http://www.11alive.com/news/article/314666/40/Electric-car-o...

31 points by jusben1369 13y ago

It's interesting. Putting aside the actual value and concentrating on the behavior. If a driver knew that a school keep gasoline for filling up buses or other purposes and went and topped up his car while his son played tennis he/she would be fully aware that they were stealing. They may still do it, but it wouldn't make the papers and/or they wouldn't act surprised if they were caught "Oh can't anyone take the petrol if they need it?"

mschuster91 13y ago
The difference here is the perception: while everyone knows petrol is an expensive good, many people don't view electricity as something stealable - it's not really tangible, and you're dealing in amounts that can be fractions of a cent.
- nodata 13y ago
  How much does an electric car cost to charge?
  - peterjancelis 13y ago
    High single digit dollars.
  - mschuster91 13y ago
    I don't know the specs of US wall outlets, but on a standard European wall outlet with 16A @230V a charge time of 20 minutes (as in the article) should give a energy consumption of approximate 1 kWh (US should be 16A @110V IIRC, so the power consumption is 0.5 kWh), given a price of 10 ct/kWh we have a cost of 10 cents. Now, if you count in the time cost for law enforcement (15 hours in jail, the petrol from picking up the suspect and re-delivering him home, multiple hours of paperwork), the cost of enforcement is likely to be tens of thousands times more expensive than the value of the "stolen" goods. But hey, the US aren't exactly known for applying common sense in law enforcement. And anyone placing a open wall outlet without a lock on a totally public area (a parking lot!) is not in any position to whine later on.
    - mikeash 13y ago
      I must disagree most strenuously with your last sentence. A person does not need to take steps to secure his belongings in order to have the right to complain about theft. Leaving the stuff unlocked is not particularly wise, but theft is still theft when it's easy, and the victim still has a right to his property.
      - mschuster91 13y ago
        Public electricity supplies on parking lots are on the rise - I personally would consider a wall outlet on a parking lot without a lock or sign as a free-to-charge-my-car outlet.
        mikeash 13y ago
        Around here, all such supplies have clear signage that they're available to the public. Maybe it's different where you are?
        jessaustin 13y ago
        Where is "here"? I've lived all over the USA and in various other nations, and the only place I've seen signs like that is inside the secured zone at certain airports.
        mikeash 13y ago
        They're all over the place in Northern Virginia, and I saw a bunch in California when I was there recently too. They look something like this: http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2012/12/public-charging-station.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2012/12/publ...
        jessaustin 13y ago
        Well that's a non sequitur. We're talking about a standard NEMA 5-15 receptacle, which have seen wide use for decades. In the parking context, they're often used in cold climates to ensure that the vehicle will start sometime before spring. Now you show us a picture of one of these new EV doodads that might not even have a standard plug. What is that supposed to mean? The creation of a new technology doesn't change the implicit understanding that millions of people have about really old technology. However, it might mean that managers of public spaces who have their drawers on a bit too tight, ought to buy either a sign or some padlocks.
  - jusben1369 13y ago
    In the US (IL specifically) I saw an article that said $2 per 85 miles (about 140km) driven. So let's say you're in the US and you really care about the cost of driving (one of the main reasons for you getting an electric car) you might compare to a gasoline car getting 30 - 40 mpg. At roughly $3.50 per gallon right now We could round up and say you're paying $8 to $9 to get that same 85 miles with a (by American standards) fuel efficient car. So if you're paying $40 - $50 to fill your car thats' about $10 in electricity. Of course if you've got a 6 cylinder with some regular traffic driving you're probably much closer to 20mpg so you're at $15 vs $2 above. Pretty meaningful. (yes I'm ignoring other costs involved including setting up your house to charge a car and the additional cost for an electric car up front vs its gasoline peer)
- bmelton 13y ago
  I'll agree with that and add to it as well -- there's also the perception that powering up a whole car is an expensive endeavor. I can easily imagine that the cop who saw the guy plugged in probably saw dollars trickling from the wall, where a cell phone plugged in wouldn't seem as expensive. I feel like petty theft incidents like this for first-time offenders should be handled more delicately -- e.g., he can pay back the amount stolen, and perhaps a $50 court cost, but while I agree that jail seems excessive for the crime, there was indeed a crime committed, and perhaps illustrating to the officers that it was only 5 cents worth of crime would lessen the severity.
ZeroGravitas 13y ago
A closer analogy would be taking water from an outside tap, which again putting the value aside (even though it's much closer), people would be highly surprised to see someone arrested for theft of water and would actually think that outside taps in a public place might be intended to be used by the public who have access to the facilities.
- 001sky 13y ago
  This is a good analogy. For reference, a Telsa Model S is like lining up 14,000 people to take a sip. An iPhone is one person.[1] So, in this case the issue is what happens when you exploit a social norm by 3x orders of magnitude? One the one hand its a "hack", on the other its "opportunistically, selfishly gaming the system". YMMV. [1] This is back of the envelope, 5.77wh vs 85kwhr.
  - dkokelley 13y ago
    FYI, it was a Nissan Leaf according to the article, not a Tesla. The Leaf has a more modest 24 kWh battery. (So you're really only lining up ~4,000 people and only letting the first few hundred take a sip.)
  - freehunter 13y ago
    I know people turn on the taps in schools and leave them running after they leave, letting the water flow uselessly while no one is there. My high school had plenty of broken urinals that were constantly running water, or had the plunger stuck down. Someone may get detention for that stunt, but never arrested.
- bane 13y ago
  Now lets say I put a small electric motor on that tap and turn it on for a few hours so I can charge my phone or a few days to charge my car? (don't think I didn't toy with the idea when I lived in an apartment with water included in the rent but not electricity).
  - bananacurve 13y ago
001sky 13y ago
What is the diference between a car and an iPhone? I could very well see a kid charging his iPhone at soccer practice to call mom for a ride home (or whatever). The issue is a commercial grade of service vs an residential or amateur one. The behaviour (say, recharging your laptop at starbucks) is not inherently larceny ("theft of property") in terms of social norms. Or are you suggesting it should be?
- mikeash 13y ago
  I personally find it quite odd that we've normalized the behavior of plugging electronics into random electrical outlets not explicitly labeled for public use. Not that I haven't done my fair share of the same over the years (especially in airports), but it's strange just the same.
  - cptskippy 13y ago
    I've always found it odd as well, so I was happy to see the terminals at a number of airports this summer all offering copious outlets for passengers to top-up devices.
  - NickM 13y ago
    In most parts of the US it costs less than a tenth of a cent to charge an iPhone. I think it would be extremely rare that any business or organization would choose saving the minuscule cost of electricity over allowing people who need a charge to take one, so in practice it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume it's okay in most situations.
- leephillips 13y ago
  My wife will not plug in her iPhone to charge it at work. It all depends on your ethical standards. I, on the other hand, never thought twice about doing this. EDIT: Didn't think I would have to actually explain this, but here goes: the phone is for her personal use, unlike the computer, monitor, and other things on her desk supplied, along with the electricity, by her employer.
  - 13y ago
makhanko 13y ago
I wonder if using outlet would be considered a fair use of the facilities. The car owner's son was playing tennis at the school which means he was given a permission to use the facility. If this is the case then using the parking lot, drinking fountain, water in the bathroom, light or electric outlet at the school should be considered a fair use unless there is something that indicates otherwise (like a no-parking sign)

jdludlow 13y ago

Already covered on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6844702 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6844702

phorese 13y ago

> charged Heh.

microtherion 13y ago
At least the car owner was not charged with battery.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
  - jusben1369 13y ago
    Go ahead. Mock us because we're plugged in to such a current story.
    - RankingMember 13y ago
      Reddit leaking?

paulyg 13y ago

I agree that this person should not have been using the school's electricity to charge his car. But to have him arrested is an extreme over reaction. The punishment does not fit the crime. That is what I take away from this story.

jusben1369 13y ago
Well to be a stickler for detail being arrested isn't the punishment. If he was taken to the police station then let off with a warning that would be his actual punishment. However I agree that it's a rather extreme response from the onsite officer.
- jack-r-abbit 13y ago
  Sgt. Ford says the officer should have arrested Kamooneh on the spot. But he didn't. Instead, the officer filed a police report. Then 11 days passed, and two deputies showed up at his house in Decatur. [snip] Ford said he sought the arrest warrant after determining that school officials hadn't given Kamooneh permission to plug in his car. The onsite officer did exactly as he should. He filed a report. And then the officer's boss (Sgt. Ford) got the arrest warrant later. And then 2 other officers made the arrest. So there was more than just one person involved here.

Loic 13y ago

I suppose that in nearly every other country in the world, the police would not come, but a staff of the school would simply tell the car owner to just unplug his car and not do it again. But maybe people like that should be sent in front of a court to give judges some work because the don't have enough work yet. This would be great, steal 5 cents of power, go in front of a court, active the police and the judiciary system, create 1000's $ of invoices, increase the GDP of the country!

cujo 13y ago
Just stop with this nonsense. There's likely more story here than what the article provides. Most likely he had been told before not to plug in, has an unrelated dispute with someone at the school, etc. Not every story needs to be an excuse to rant against the system.
- hmottestad 13y ago
  There just seems to be so many of these great little nuggets coming from across the pond. Offhand: "Don't tase me bro"
  - jessaustin 13y ago
    Nothing to see here! Move along!
- thrillgore 13y ago
  >Not every story needs to be an excuse to rant against the system. B...but what else will go on HN to do?
jusben1369 13y ago
Hmmm. A couple of thoughts. One, it sounds like it's outside of school hours. (after school practise). So not sure how many school employees are left. And while I hear you on the strong response for a minor offense in general it's becoming clearer that the worst thing police can do is look the other way at minor infractions. The "one broken window" approach to policing.

VLM 13y ago

The journalist needs to put a tiny little bit more effort into it.... The real story is likely something along the lines of the usual labor dispute, or this guy is dating an ex-girlfriend of someone in mgmt, or he filed a complaint and this is the anti-whistleblower reaction. As a resident of a northern tier state this story from Georgia is weird because most people up here have block heaters and they will plug into any hole it'll fit into. The current draw of a block heater is wildly variable but then again they're wildly more popular. Pretty much, nobody blinks at this behavior as long as you don't do something idiotic/dangerous like run an extension cord across a road/walkway or thru a puddle of water. There's a reason they put those electrical outlets at the base of the lightpost and it's not to encourage stupid extension cord triplines.

Mikeb85 13y ago

Maybe it's because Canada is so cold (at this exact moment the temperature is minus 20C with a foot or two of snow on the ground) and block heaters in cars were the norm for so long, but just about every parking lot (that isn't in a shopping centre) has electric outlets here. At schools, apartment buildings, etc.... When I park my car at the University there's electric outlets for every single stall (of course nowadays most cars start easily without block heaters). Electricity is cheap enough that being able to 'plug in' is generally acceptable anywhere, except where explicitly forbidden...

xvolter 13y ago

This sounds like a situation that was just blown out of partition. An officer who cares about the theft of five cents on a single occasion is an officer with too much free time. Does he realize how much his five minutes cost tax payers when he was telling this guy about how he stole? And seriously? Stole! Five cents of electricity from a public school? The guy's a tax payer (assumption), therefore, if you follow the money, somehow he paid for the electricity to begin with. If you take that aside even more, it's better for him to steal five cents of electricity than drive a gasoline car, I'd gladly allow random strangers to charge from my parking lot outlets if it encouraged more people to go green. Considering tax money also gives free electricity to people who cannot afford it, hypothetically, if this guy was on a financial assistance program to pay for his utilities would it still be stealing considering the money is coming from the same place? It's not like five cents would hold either, the moment this is disputed it'd be dropped.

kmlymi 13y ago

I know that this person wasn't doing this, but would it be feasible to charge the car up at school, and then once at home use the car as a generator to save on his electricity bill?

frogpelt 13y ago

1. The guy who stole the electricity would want someone to ask before they used his electricity. 2. I doubt the police officer would arrest anyone in his family for doing something this petty. Principled thinking would have resolved the conflict before it started.

gesman 13y ago

Your tax dollars at work!

ufmace 13y ago

Sounds like there's gotta be more to the story. Any sane officer, school, jurisdiction, would have either ignored it or told the guy to knock it off and then left him alone. For there to be an actual arrest, probably either the cop is a raging dickhead (unlikely), the guy was a raging dickhead to the cop (rather more likely), or the guy was involved in some unrelated prior dispute that this is retaliation for. For criminal charges to be filed and not dismissed the first time a DA or judge sees it, it kinda implies either the unrelated dispute or the entire legal system in the area is full of raging dickheads all covering for each other.

jessaustin 13y ago
...either the cop is a raging dickhead (unlikely)... Is this a "privileged" statement?
thrillgore 13y ago
It's Suburban Atlanta. Every cop is a raging dickhead with quotas on their mind.

startupfounder 13y ago

Let's look at the facts: 5 cents. The Nissan LEAF gets 3.16 mi/kWh[1]. When plugged into a standard household outlet for 20 minutes you get 1.67 miles of driving (1 hour = 5 miles)[2], which by my calculation is 0.52848101 kWh of electricity. As the elementary school is in CHAMBLEE, Ga. the utility provider is Georgia Power[3]. The highest electricity rate for a school is 10.9269¢ per kWh. So a man got arrested in front of his kids and community for "stealing" $0.0577465918[4]. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-CR1211-69 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-CR1211-69 [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-84 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-84 [3]http://www.georgiapower.com/pricing/files/rates-and-schedules/7.00_sch-15.pdf http://www.georgiapower.com/pricing/files/rates-and-schedule... [4]http://www.11alive.com/news/article/314666/40/Electric-car-owner-charged-with-stealing-5-cents-worth-of-juice http://www.11alive.com/news/article/314666/40/Electric-car-o...