Electric car owner arrested for stealing $0.05 worth of power from school

Well, there’s really no way of making up a story this ridiculous: The owner of an electric vehicle was recently arrested by police in Georgia for “stealing” electricity from a school where he plugged in his car.

Breakdown of the crime Kaveh Kamooneh, the man at the center of all this, is as follows:

– The reason Kamooneh was there: to watch his son’s tennis match.
– The estimated time of his powering up the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle: 20 minutes.
– Estimated amount of power “stolen” from the building: $0.05 

“He said that he was going to charge me with theft by taking because I was taking power, electricity from the school,” Kamooneh told a Georgia television station, regarding his confrontation with a police officer who was called to the spot to check out the theft as it was taking place.

“I'm not sure how much electricity he stole,” said Chamblee police Sergeant Ernesto Ford, but he added: It doesn't matter. “He broke the law. He stole something that wasn't his.”

As if the story isn’t already bizarre enough, get this: Kamooneh wasn’t arrested on the spot. His power theft was formally reported to the Chamblee police, who then performed an actual investigation into the matter.

Upon finding enough evidence that he had illegally tapped the power source for some unapproved electrical juice, they travelled over to his house and arrested him at his home . . . 10 days later.

After being booked, Kamooneh spent 15 hours in a jail cell before being released.

While everything described here is almost beyond comprehension, a post about charging one’s electric car without permission on EVelectricity.com states: “You may want to ask as some car owners have reported being written up for stealing electricity. Sometimes it is better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. Whatever approach you go with make sure you think it through.”

Or, if you happen to be near Chamblee, Georgia and are close to needing a recharge, you may want to take the risk of waiting it out until you arrive at the next town over.

Kamooneh said that he will fight the charges.

Story via networkworld.com