Electric car owner arrested for ‘stealing’ 5 cents of electricity

[Gunzkewl]

 

 

An electric car owner has been arrested and detained for 15 hours for “stealing” around 5 cents worth of electricity from a middle school. Kaveh Kamooneh plugged an extension cable from his Nissan Leaf into an exterior outlet at Chamblee Middle School in Georgia while watching his 11-year-old son play tennis. Minutes later, a Chamblee police officer appeared and warned him that he would be charged for theft for taking electricity from the school. Kamooneh only charged his vehicle for 20 minutes, but he was arrested 11 days later after the initial officer filed a report and sought an arrest warrant

Kamooneh hadn’t sought permission from the school to charge his car, and Chamblee Police claim he had previously been advised he was not allowed on the school tennis courts without permission. In an interview with Atlanta's Channel 11 News, Kamooneh likens his charging to plugging in a cellphone at a coffee shop. "People charge laptops or cell phones at public outlets all the time, and no one's ever been arrested for that,” says Kamooneh. Chamblee Police Sergeant Ernesto Ford is sticking by the arrest, noting that “a theft is a theft,” but Kamooneh plans to fight the charges. While electric cars are slowly going mainstream, the case does highlight the grey areas around simply plugging in at outlets without consent, common sense policing, and the need for more free charging points..

Source:http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/5/5177620/electric-car-owner-arrested-for-stealing-electricity

 

[Hyydrah]

 

Really though, this is just ridiculous.

[Snickerzz]

We can charge our ipads at my highschool, pretty sure that costs more than 5 cents ._.

[Vitalius]

Source:http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/5/5177620/electric-car-owner-arrested-for-stealing-electricity

"Kamooneh likens his charging to plugging in a cellphone at a coffee shop. "People charge laptops or cell phones at public outlets all the time, and no one's ever been arrested for that,” says Kamooneh."

That's actually a really good argument. 

I mean, unless he was warned by the school "hey, don't charge your vehicle here", then I don't understand the problem. Like, obviously a car is going to suck more electricity than any other device, but on principle it's the same thing as the coffee shop example he mentions. 

If he doesn't win, I'm calling hypocrisy of the finest grade.

[Snickerzz]

That's actually a really good argument. 

I mean, unless he was warned by the school "hey, don't charge your vehicle here", then I don't understand the problem. Like, obviously a car is going to suck more electricity than any other device, but on principle it's the same thing as the coffee shop example he mentions. 

If he doesn't win, I'm calling hypocrisy of the finest grade.

exactly, i thout charging electroc cars was expensive, but 5 cents, really?!

[Puppet]

...and how much did it cost the government to arrest/detain him?

[Giggitygoebbels]

Ernesto Ford...

Wow

So justice

Law is blind

Such responsibility

Much reasoning

Wow

Caught red-handed

Dishonesty cannot exist

Wow

[Gunzkewl]

That's actually a really good argument. 

I mean, unless he was warned by the school "hey, don't charge your vehicle here", then I don't understand the problem. Like, obviously a car is going to suck more electricity than any other device, but on principle it's the same thing as the coffee shop example he mentions. 

If he doesn't win, I'm calling hypocrisy of the finest grade.

 

 

 

a Chamblee police officer appeared and warned him that he would be charged for theft for taking electricity from the school

Kamooneh hadn’t sought permission from the school to charge his car, and Chamblee Police claim he had previously been advised he was not allowed on the school tennis courts without permission

 

I'm not on the police side, but if he gave him a warning about not charging his car there, the car owner should have stop using the outlet.

I know is not any different than charging a laptop, tablet or cellphone but maybe the cars drains more energy . Getting arrested for that is a bit excessive 

[crystal6tak]

A few facts I got from the comments section in the article that I think is worth noting:

 

1. Kaveh’s son was not a student at the middle school.

 

2. Kaveh’s son was not playing tennis – Kaveh was taking tennis lessons from an instructor (presumably not affiliated with the school) and had been previously warned not to use the tennis courts without permission

3. When approached by the officer, Kaveh was belligerent, even going so far as to accuse the officer of damaging his car (which the officer pointed out the damage was already existing, as captured on his dash cam as his police car approached the electric vehicle)"

[N00B_person]

That's total balls/bollocks. He only used it for convenience! In this day and age, power is almost expendable! especially from a school that I assume is government funded.

[Oseirus]

Guys, he's wrong. You can't steal electricity from coffee shops because it never leaves the building. You're just borrowing it. This guy was clearly a hardened criminal and knew exactly what he was doing when he siphoned those gigawats out of that school. He deserves everything he got and more. I'm thinking 25 to life.

 

But seriously. There has to be more to this story. That's absolutely asinine that someone would get arrested for any length of time JUST for plugging his car in.

[Vitalius]

I'm not on the police side, but if he gave him a warning about not charging his car there, the car owner should have stop using the outlet.

I know is not any different than charging a laptop, tablet or cellphone but maybe the cars drains more energy . Getting arrested for that is a bit excessive 

That's not what that part says. 

 

"a Chamblee police officer appeared and warned him that he would be charged for theft for taking electricity from the school

Kamooneh hadn’t sought permission from the school to charge his car, and Chamblee Police claim he had previously been advised he was not allowed on the school tennis courts without permission"

The first sentence says he was warned he would be charged for theft after the fact. If it were before, it should've said so. 

The second sentence says he did not ask for permission to use the socket, and that he was told he wasn't allowed on to the school tennis courts without permission. Those two things sound mutually exclusive the way it's written. Meaning they aren't related other than being in the same sentence. 

What I take from that is the following:

He was told he wasn't allowed on the tennis court.

He was told after he took the electricity that he would be charged for theft.

And he didn't ask for permission to use the socket.

None of that translates to "He was told not to use the socket/get electricity for his electric vehicle from the school."

[James_AJ]

Let me guess.

Only in 'Murica.

[totjup5]

Wow...just wow

[needmorewood]

you could probably find that money somewhere on the floor there whats the big deal?

[Gunzkewl]

 

That's not what that part says. 

 

"a Chamblee police officer appeared and warned him that he would be charged for theft for taking electricity from the school

Kamooneh hadn’t sought permission from the school to charge his car, and Chamblee Police claim he had previously been advised he was not allowed on the school tennis courts without permission"

The first sentence says he was warned he would be charged for theft after the fact. If it were before, it should've said so. 

The second sentence says he did not ask for permission to use the socket, and that he was told he wasn't allowed on to the school tennis courts without permission. Those two things sound mutually exclusive the way it's written. Meaning they aren't related other than being in the same sentence. 

What I take from that is the following:

He was told he wasn't allowed on the tennis court.

He was told after he took the electricity that he would be charged for theft.

And he didn't ask for permission to use the socket.

None of that translates to "He was told not to use the socket/get electricity for his electric vehicle from the school."

 

Chamblee police officer appeared and warned him that he would be charged for theft for taking electricity from the school

That sounds to me he was told not to use the socket/get electricity for his electric vehicle. Maybe not from the school but the police officer

[TheRuke]

I'm pretty sure his son was stealing air.

[Vitalius]

Chamblee police officer appeared and warned him that he would be charged for theft for taking electricity from the school

That sounds to me he was told not to use the socket/get electricity for his electric vehicle. Maybe not from the school but the police officer

Then what should immediately follow that sentence is "if he used the socket for his electric vehicle." 

To me, that sounds like it happened after the fact. We will see.

[KaareKanin]

I kinda get the point though... I wouldn't take kindly to it if someone just plugged an extension cord into one of my exterior outlets and helped themselves to my electricity. Yes, the amount of money in question was very low, and yes, there was certainly an overreaction. But who knows? Maybe it's a problem for the school? And the guy probably had no idea if the outlet was suitable for charging electric cars, he should't have done it without consent

[Levis95l]

I think it's obvious that you can't use just some random outlet to charge electric car. It's not really the same thing as charging your laptop at a coffee shop. Firstly at a coffee shop you're a paying customer and secondly an electric car uses way more power.

 

It doesn't matter that it cost "only 5 cents". If charging is allowed, then everyone will want to benefit. Even if all the people together would use that outlet only one hour a day, that makes almost 55$ in a year. Also someone would go and plug their car in over night.

 

However I agree that a warning should be enough in this kind of event. But on the other hand, we don't know the full picture. Maybe the charging wasn't the only reason why he was arrested, only a factor.

[SSL]

How much does it cost the government annually to employ this jackass of a cop? Is it really an offense that warranted arresting someone 11 days after the fact?

[LAwLz]

If he doesn't win, I'm calling hypocrisy of the finest grade.

I don't think you know what the word "hypocrisy" means.

 

I think it's important to note the things crystal6tak pointed out:

A few facts I got from the comments section in the article that I think is worth noting:

 

1. Kaveh’s son was not a student at the middle school.

 

2. Kaveh’s son was not playing tennis – Kaveh was taking tennis lessons from an instructor (presumably not affiliated with the school) and had been previously warned not to use the tennis courts without permission

3. When approached by the officer, Kaveh was belligerent, even going so far as to accuse the officer of damaging his car (which the officer pointed out the damage was already existing, as captured on his dash cam as his police car approached the electric vehicle)"

 

So he had absolutely no relation to the school (his son was not from that school), the school had told the person to not be at the tennis court and he was picking a fight with the officers. Personally, I think he should be punished, but arrested for 11 days is way too harsh. He should have gotten a very light punishment or maybe just a warning.

 

I don't think it's fair to compare it to charging your phone at a coffee shop by the way. 1) If you are at a coffee shop then you are a paying customer to the shop. This guy had even been told that he was not allowed to be at the tennis court, yet he went there anyway. 2) A cellphone or laptop uses waaaay less power. I guess a fair analogy would be being at a public pool. If you're there swimming you will waste some of the water in the pool. Your body absorbed some, it might spill out when you swim and so on, and that's fine. You would probably be arrested if you drove there with a big tank truck and sucked up a ton of water and tried to drive away though.

[The Great Sayain Man]

This makes no sense at all.

[FellTheSky]

ridiculous as always, the repressive power of usa

[Vitalius]

I don't think you know what the word "hypocrisy" means.

While the man may have been being an a-hole, I think his argument still stands as it doesn't change that he wasn't stealing (according to how our society views electricity). 

"the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense."

That's what hypocrisy means.

If "a theft is a theft", then why isn't he arresting everyone at the local coffee shop charging their various devices? That is a perfect example of it. Quite literally. 

In fact, if you want to say "well, he did steal the electricity", does he pay taxes? If so, his money goes to education. To which you could construe that the electricity he took is sort of his to use since he pays taxes. The taxes may not go directly to that school, but in a general sense.

Note that I'm ignoring his attitude. He sounds like an ass. But regardless, being hypocritical about how you define and apply the law is annoying at least, and potentially destructive at best.