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Several years ago I took a long cross-country bicycle ride. Many nights I camped in public parks, and would charge my cell phone in any available electrical outlet.
I never for a moment would have considered that theft of electricity but by the standards of this news story I see that some would.
That's what I was thinking. Pretty sure an arrest was not needed. In fact, I would bet that if a representative of the school approached him and told him to stop plugging in his electric car, I'd bet he would've stopped. Now, playing Devil's Advocate - say he told them to pound sand when asked to stop. Now, they could seek legal recourse, i.e. sue him civily for the portion of the electricity he stole, or send him a trespass notice via registered mail and advise him he is no longer allowed on property. Plenty of other options rather than tossing the grass-eating goofball in jail.Originally Posted by RblDiver
The character of a man can be judged by how he treats those who can do nothing for him
Well the police did an investigation and felt an arrest was warranted. He was arrested 10 days after the incident.
It is also speculation that nothing occurred.Now we move to "hypotheticals" and "what ifs".
Based on the story as presented, the above is just speculation.
The service is selling coffee and maybe offering free WiFi.
The service is not tapping into their WiFi without the knowledge or plugging in a device to recharge it .
Would it also be OK to pull into the bus yard and siphon out a little fuel from a bus?
Wait, it was a public school? He's a taxpayer? He didn't steal from the school, he just got his $.05 worth of the taxes he's been paying!
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Leave the pump active next to the parking lot, don't be surprised by the results.
DaveL & squeeze said it better than I did.
And now another side of the story, change anyone's mind?
Statement from police department:
We received a 911 call advising that someone was plugged into the power outlet behind the middle school. The responding officer located the vehicle in the rear of the building at the kitchen loading dock up against the wall with a cord run to an outlet. The officer spent some time trying to determine whose vehicle it was. It was unlocked and he eventually began looking through the interior after verifying it did not belong to the school system.
The officer, his marked patrol vehicle and the electric vehicle were all in clear view of the tennis courts. Eventually, a man on the courts told the officer that the man playing tennis with him owned the vehicle. The officer went to the courts and interviewed the vehicle owner. The officer's initial incident report gives a good indication of how difficult and argumentative the individual was to deal with. He made no attempt to apologize or simply say oops and he wouldn't do it again. Instead he continued being argumentative, acknowledged he did not have permission and then accused the officer of having damaged his car door. The officer told him that was not true and that the vehicle and existing damage was already on his vehicles video camera from when he drove up.
Given the uncooperative attitude and accusations of damage to his vehicle, the officer chose to document the incident on an incident report. The report was listed as misdemeanor theft by taking. The officer had no way of knowing how much power had been consumed, how much it cost nor how long it had been charging.
The report made its way to Sgt Ford's desk for a follow up investigation. He contacted the middle school and inquired of several administrative personnel whether the individual had permission to use power. He was advised no. Sgt. Ford showed a photo to the school resource officer who recognized Mr. Kamooneh. Sgt Ford was further advised that Mr. Kamooneh had previously been advised he was not allowed on the school tennis courts without permission from the school . This was apparently due to his interfering with the use of the tennis courts previously during school hours.
Based upon the totality of these circumstances and without any expert advice on the amount of electricity that may have been used, Sgt Ford signed a theft warrant. The warrant was turned over to the DeKalb Sheriffs Dept for service because the individual lived in Decatur, not Chamblee. This is why he was arrested at a later time.
I am sure that Sgt. Ford was feeling defensive when he said a theft is a theft and he would do it again. Ultimately, Sgt. Ford did make the decision to pursue the theft charges, but the decision was based on Mr. Kamooneh having been advised that he was not allowed on the property without permission. Had he complied with that notice none of this would have occurred. Mr. Kamooneh's son is not a student at the middle school and he was not the one playing tennis. Mr. Kamooneh was taking lessons himself.
Last edited by newracer; 12-12-2013 at 16:51.
newracer, sounds like he earned himself the ticket/summons. I still think an arrest was excessive.
The fact that he had previously told not to go on the property without permission makes me think this should have been treated as trespass, not theft.
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