Careful Where You Plug Your EV in

This had crossed my mind, I've read about folks asking to run an extension cord to an establishment they might be a patron of, but wondered how those not giving permission might react to someone leeching juice.

Heard this story on the radio this morning. I know we've got a few Leaf drivers in the community.

EV Driver Jailed for ‘Stealing’ 5 Cents of Electricity
A Georgia man was lead out of his house in handcuffs for the absolutely heinous crime of plugging his EV in without asking permission. The reprehensible reprobate absconded with an entire nickel’s worth of juice.

Authorities charged Kaveh Kamooneh with theft after he (allegedly) charged his Nissan Leaf for about 20 minutes while watching his son’s tennis practice. According to reports, a police officer responded to a complaint that a vehicle parked outside Chamblee Middle School was plugged into an outlet. Kamooneh said he noticed the police officer milling around his car and wandered over to see what the problem was.

“He said that he was going to charge me with theft by taking because I was taking power, electricity from the school,” Kamooneh told the local NBC affiliate.

Kamooneh didn’t take him seriously, and the officer left. Eleven days later, an officer showed up to his home in Decatur, Georgia and arrested him. Kamooneh spent 15 hours in DeKalb County Jail. Although he conceded that he hadn’t asked permission before plugging in, he notes that the “crime” occurred on a Saturday morning and there was no one around.

“A theft is a theft,” police Sgt. Ernesto Ford told Atlanta’s Channel 11 News.

Wednesday evening, the police chief and city manager issued a statement saying Kamooneh had been “combative” with the officer, who filed a report for theft by taking, a misdemeanor. The report was forwarded to Ford, who upon further investigation learned Kamooneh had not received permission to be on school grounds (Police also claim it was Kamooneh, not his son, taking lessons). Ford obtained an arrest warrant and handed it over to sheriff’s deputies, who served it 11 days later.

“I am sure that Sgt. Ford was feeling defensive when he said a theft is a theft and he would do it again,” read the statement, posted by the local NBC affiliate. “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.”

This may well be the first case of someone being arrested for what’s called opportunist charging — plugging in an EV whenever and wherever you have the chance. And though it seems absurd that someone might actually be arrested and jailed for taking even a nickel’s worth of electricity — one wonders if the police would have been so zealous had it been an iPhone 5s instead of a car taking 5 cents worth of juice — it may well become more of an issue as the number of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids continues to grow.

I wonder if it wasn't some EV hater who called the police, rather than the establishment the electricity was hiested from. It didn't say who called

I wonder if anyone in law enforcement pauses for just a second to ask themselves "Will I look like a complete asshat for this bit of overzealous respect-my-authorit-aay nonsense?".

I mean... if he didn't have permission to be there, wasn't the more appropriate fine for trespassing? Or perhaps "Sir, you must leave the premises immediately or I will have to charge you with trespassing". Because... 'round here... as tax payers, we all use the public school grounds on weekends for everything from jogging to flying model airplanes and it might really be trespassing but no one has ever been asked to leave so there is some precedent.

I think the cop should have directly asked him to unplug it first. If he refused, then the law is the law.

bigdaddylee82 wrote: The report was forwarded to Ford, who upon further investigation learned Kamooneh had not received permission to be on school grounds (Police also claim it was Kamooneh, not his son, taking lessons).

bigdaddylee82 wrote: ...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.”

Seems like this is just as much of a trespassing issue. Why no charges there?

They see me chargin', they hatin'...

Lugnut wrote: Seems like this is just as much of a trespassing issue. Why no charges there?

At the point where three men on the public dime spent time and gas money to enforce this $.05 crime... who was really stealing from the tax payers?

So essentially they arrested him for not doing as told in regards to something else.

Why didn't they arrest him on the spot for trespassing?

idontwanttoliveonthisplanetanymore.jpg

So where do you draw the line? If $.05 isn't worth enforcing, how about $1.00 or $10.00. Where is the magic line. If I steal a 10 cent piece of candy, is that stealing. Should I be arrested for shoplifting? It's only 10 cents, not worth prosecuting. What is the difference between electricity and a piece of candy. Is it OK to steal electricity because he is saving the planet? I don't think so.

He wasn't tresspassing because he was there watching his son's tennis practice. If there's a moral to the story, it's don't be an asshat to a cop and pretend that something he says is just ridiculous. The whole "it's better to ask for forgiveness that permission" doesn't apply to cops. The cop says unplug. Ask why WHILE YOU'RE UNPLUGGING IT. Then ask the school for written permission to plug in. Problem solved.
I think the cops are in the wrong here, but it sounds like the guy gave them reason to go back to the station and get all worked up about someone disrespecting their authority. They hate that E36 M3.

I charge my LEAF at home. The very few times I've charged it in public were at a Chevy dealer that had free charging stations for EVs....and I asked if it was OK first.

Cleary I think the police went way overboard, at least from the facts we've been given. I agree the officer should have just told him to unplug it at the scene. But as an EV owner, I think it's wrong to just plug in somewhere without asking.

Toyman01 wrote: So where do you draw the line? If $.05 isn't worth enforcing, how about $1.00 or $10.00. Where is the magic line. If I steal a 10 cent piece of candy, is that stealing. Should I be arrested for shoplifting? It's only 10 cents, not worth prosecuting. What is the difference between electricity and a piece of candy. Is it OK to steal electricity because he is saving the planet? I don't think so.

I suppose if the city is safe and there is no other crime-fighting to be done then stationing a few officers next to the grapes in the supermarket would be the next best use of time. Then, maybe following smokers around and handing out fines for throwing cigarette butts out the window... then jaywalkers... people who swear in public... then illegal phone and EV chargers.

It's an interesting topic. I travel for work quite a bit and, like almost all travelers these days, wander around my gate at the airport, looking for an outlet to plug my phone/laptop/hot spot/headphones/etc into. Once I do, is that any different than plugging my car in at a school? I'm not sure it is.

I think this is complete horseE36 M3. If the guy had plugged anything else into the school power grid like a laptop or a cellphone this would be a non-issue. Bored police are a complete pain in the ass. Remember when they used to be peace officers?

"A theft is a theft." Remember how we rail against this zero tolerance attitude in other threads? Same applies here. This officer needs retraining in how to be a human.

Xceler8x wrote: I think this is complete horseE36 M3. If the guy had plugged anything else into the school power grid like a laptop or a cellphone this would be a non-issue. Bored police are a complete pain in the ass. Remember when they used to be peace officers?

Yes, this. This was clearly a convenience outlet that was probably outside. If you had a cell phone or something plugged in, nobody would care. If the guy snuck inside and plugged it in to a business or school that would be one thing, but he had legit reason to be at the parking lot and there was a plug there. This is silly.

I'm going to start putting gas in my car from the tanks the local high school uses to refill the lawnmowers they use to mow the soccer fields. Ill only be taking a few miles of gas its fine. Not theft and I shouldn't be prosecuted.

tuna55 wrote:

Xceler8x wrote: I think this is complete horseE36 M3. If the guy had plugged anything else into the school power grid like a laptop or a cellphone this would be a non-issue. Bored police are a complete pain in the ass. Remember when they used to be peace officers?

Yes, this. This was clearly a convenience outlet that was probably outside. If you had a cell phone or something plugged in, nobody would care. If the guy snuck inside and plugged it in to a business or school that would be one thing, but he had legit reason to be at the parking lot and there was a plug there. This is silly.

In the early days of people dragging laptops around I was actually asked by security to not use certain outlets in the airport because they were for cleaning purposes only. Was this dumb? Yup. Did I argue with security about it? Nope. I went to the counter and asked where I could plug it. The cops were wrong, but ignoring them isn't the best way to make it right. The cops couldn't give him permission, all they could do is ask him to stop. Permission could only be granted by the school.

If he had been siphoning fuel out of a school bid for his car would that be ok as long as it's just a little. How do you decide at what amount it becomes wrong?

Was he wrong for stealing it? Probably. Did the cops overreact a little? Probably. I get the sense this is about police being the authoritaaaaay as much as it is about a smug assbrain taking his son to tennis practice in an EV to prove he's better than everyone. He probably didn't NEED to plug it in to get it home, my guess is he wanted to show off a lil bit.

Could some smug-ness come into play in the over reactions on both parts?

JohnRW1621 wrote: Could some smug-ness come into play in the over reactions on both parts?

This was EXACTLY what I had in mind when I wrote that lol.

The Leaf owners may be able to even out-smug the Prius owners.
A game of smug one-ups-manship.

Take the sensationalism out of the story and I think the story could be:
"Some guy is an ass in public and officer takes him to task in public."
Even I know, you must "respect the authority."

Klayfish wrote: I charge my LEAF at home. The very few times I've charged it in public were at a Chevy dealer that had free charging stations for EVs....and I asked if it was OK first.

You are exactly right! If this guy had any common sense it would have never happened. Who cruises around with a drop cord to charge their car at will?

JohnRW1621 wrote: The Leaf owners may be able to even out-smug the Prius owners. A game of smug one-ups-manship. Take the sensationalism out of the story and I think the story could be: "Some guy is an ass in public and officer takes him to task in public." Even I know, you must "respect the authority."

Exactly. Right or wrong, the cop is the one with the badge and the gun. You don't berkeley with that.

@Jstancel- smug shiny happy people that want to prove they're better than everyone. He probably refuse to let his kid play football or guitar, too. Makes em eat kale sammiches and E36 M3. THIS IS NOT A REFLECTION ON ALL EV OWNERS. I get it, they're pretty rad. Love electric torque.

mndsm wrote: I get the sense this is about police being the authoritaaaaay as much as it is about a smug assbrain taking his son to tennis practice in an EV to prove he's better than everyone. He probably didn't NEED to plug it in to get it home, my guess is he wanted to show off a lil bit.

I take my kids to all kinds of sports practices in the LEAF. I know I make it a habit to peer over the top of my sunglasses and sneer at the wannabe in her Prius. Truth is I never plug it in when I do that, so not many people realize it's electric. It does get a lot of perplexed looks as I'm leaving the parking lot in dead silence though.

I think part of the issue is not many people understand how much electricity the car actually uses. Perhaps in their mind, they think the car being plugged in to a 110V outlet for 30 minutes stole $40 worth of electricity. Reality is that it was probably significantly less than $.05. Like others have said, it's not completely different than plugging in a cell phone or tablet/laptop at the airport or in a mall. I admit to having done that, but I won't plug my LEAF in without asking. Guess I'm playing both sides, huh?