Jailed for taking electricity worth 5 cents !

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
ABC NEWS
20 hours ago - Police in a Georgia city arrested a man for using a local school's electric car charging station while his son received tennis lessons



If that's 100% truth, then I'll go with you on this.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
I see people at McDonalds with their laptops using the free Wifi, but having their laptops plugged into the electrical outlets getting that free electricity. I need to call the cops the next time I see this and get them thrown out and arrested for stealing electricity!


If McDonalds provides them for public use (and they do) then it's not theft.

However, you come to my house, or place of business, and hook up, you bet I can call the cops! That's known as stealing...

If I give out free water as a courtesy to customers, that's an accommodation. However, if you come behind the counter and help yourself to something that wasn't intended to be free, then that's stealing.

It's really quite simple.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
ABC NEWS
20 hours ago - Police in a Georgia city arrested a man for using a local school's electric car charging station while his son received tennis lessons


ABC needs to get their stories straight!!!!

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/ga-man-arrested-charging-electric-car-local-middle/story?id=21098590

Ga. Man Arrested for Charging His Electric Car at Local Middle School

Quote:
A statement from Chamblee Middle School said, "On Sat., Nov. 2, 2013 a local citizen contacted the Chamblee Police Department with a complaint that an electric car was plugged into the power outlet of Chamblee Middle School.

 

[Mykl]

Okay so.... if he was plugged in to a vehicle charging station, a big '[censored]' for the whole thing.

But if he was plugged in to a regular outlet, then '[censored] was he thinking?' Also, what kind of [censored] do you have to be to arrest somebody over this? A lot of ridiculousness to go around.

 

[The_Jeff]

ABC News sensationalizing a touch here. They should send Geraldo in to plug in a moustache trimmer!!!

 

[dishdude]

Everyone here acted inappropriately -

The Leaf owner plugging his car in to a random outlet
The Police rummaging through the car
The Leaf owner mouthing off to the Police
The Police arresting him instead of issuing a citation, and doing it at 8 PM so he'd spend the night in jail.

Additionally the Leaf owner had caused problems at the school before. He's obviously got an attitude problem and this time picked a fight with someone who had just as big of an attitude problem and he lost.

 

[jrustles]

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: Y_K
Originally Posted By: Trav
The amount of post making up excuses condoning theft frankly amazes me.
Has modern society become so screwed up that the difference between right and wrong is now a grey area?

The Age of Entitlement. With its own religion, ethics and rituals.


Better than the religion of property.

 

[TrevorS]

The issue here is one of proportionality.

5c of electricity = 1 night in jail?

Those who are spouting principle and the end of society should ask themselves some questions:

1) Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone
2) Is the punishment proportionate?
3) What punishment should you have for the wrongs you have done? Did you receive something you didn't order and not return it because it wasn't your fault? I hope you are whiter than white if you think 1 night in jail is appropriate for 5c of electricity theft.
4) Lets hold everyone accountable for these small things. Police who don't put in their full hours, every private and public employee who claimed for something on their expenses incorrectly, people who took a pen home from work or photocopied something, a mechanic who drove a customers car further than required.

 

[javacontour]

Maybe the lesson is you don't argue your case with the police. I'm not saying the cop was right. I'm saying the judgment to argue with the man who can haul you off to jail is suspect.

Let the cop write the ticket and argue it before the judge.

It can only get worse if you argue with the cop. Seldom does it ever get better.

 

[Astro14]

Trevor - you're taking the estimate on the value of the electricity from the guy accused of stealing it...as well as the estimate of how long he had been plugged in...think that's unbiased information?

But regardless, let's talk proportionality. If you take something it's theft. We have varying degrees of theft: misdemeanor, felony, etc....but we all agree that a theft occurred, right? Or are you arguing that one person taking something without permission (liked the blanket permission of a public accommodation) is not actually theft?

One night in jail on an arrest is not that draconian. He could have posted bail, right?

Finally, this guy decided to pick a fight...from his own words...and when you pick a fight with the cops, generally, you lose...

 

[jrustles]

Originally Posted By: Astro14

Finally, this guy decided to pick a fight...from his own words...and when you pick a fight with the cops, generally, you lose...


But only because the cop can abuse his authority, not because the cop is morally right or has made better judgement-none of that matters at that point, only the authority bestowed upon the cop's own personal judgement is what matters. Why should this guy have to appear before a judge or spend a night in jail? Just because a cop has the authority to force these obligations onto a cilivilian?

 

[jrustles]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
Maybe the lesson is you don't argue your case with the police.


Maybe the lesson is that being the class of citizen you are, you have no right to protect yourself against a LEOs personal judgements that directly affect your life. Does that sound about right?

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
Trevor - you're taking the estimate on the value of the electricity from the guy accused of stealing it...as well as the estimate of how long he had been plugged in...think that's unbiased information?

But regardless, let's talk proportionality. If you take something it's theft. We have varying degrees of theft: misdemeanor, felony, etc....but we all agree that a theft occurred, right?


I would say that a theft occurred first in the mind of the person who called the police.

If there are lollipops at the bank teller, do you assume they are free for the taking, or ask?

What about mints at Applebees when the hostess is off seating another family? There's noone there to say yes or no. You're there on other business, not there for the mints.

What if you go to Applebees and the line is 45 minutes long, you graze on some mints while you were still thinking of eating there, but then decide to go down the street to a less crowded restaurant?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but point out the moral shades of grey.

 

[javacontour]

No one said anything about not protecting yourself. I even said I wasn't saying the cop was right or wrong.

Our system is designed such that you make that defense in court, not on the side of the road, etc.

If you decide to have the argument with the cop "at the scene" instead of in the courts where our system designed it to occur, don't be shocked if you are arrested.


Again, in no way am I saying the cop was right. What I'm saying is you have no right to never be arrested. You have the right to a speedy trial should you be arrested.

Arguing with the cop is a low success rate strategy to avoid arrest.

What might have been simply a ticket or just a verbal warning to unplug the car, etc, ended up bein a night in jail.

If the cop went beyond the law, then it will come out in court. I.E. illegal search.

But there is not right to never be arrested. Your rights are for a speedy trial and so forth.

Originally Posted By: jrustles
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Maybe the lesson is you don't argue your case with the police.


Maybe the lesson is that being the class of citizen you are, you have no right to protect yourself against a LEOs personal judgements that directly affect your life. Does that sound about right?

 

[jeepman3071]

He is still taking something that is not his, that he would otherwise have to pay for, which is theft. Theft is theft, and once you start "accepting" certain types of theft the lines become blurred. Suddenly taking a pack of gum or a Soda from a store is not theft. Its ONLY $1.25.

Did he deserve jail? Probably not, a fine or warning would have been acceptable if it was a first time offense. This guy sounds like he started a fight, which is his own fault. I would NOT consider this a form of police abusing their authority, since HE was the one who escalated the situation it seems. Police are people too, and use their best judgement. People have been tazed by police because they decided to escalate the situation, and what started as a simple traffic stop can turn into a threat depending on the person's actions and cooperation. They could have told this guy he shouldn't have done that, given him a ticket or a warning and he would be on his way.

I don't feel bad for this guy, because it seems his attitude is what got him in trouble. His feeling of entitlement is what did him in. I'm sure if he asked a school administrator kindly, they probably would have thought his electric car was interesting and maybe would have allowed him to do it.

 

[TrevorS]

Astro, implicit in my comment about proportionality is the acknowledgement that theft is theft.

Now let's put everybody in jail for one night who has knowingly or unknowingly cost somebody else 0.0000001c by some action. After all, theft is theft.

And as to whether arguing with the police is a good idea or not, obviously these days it isn't, but does that make police misuse of authority right?

I'll admit that we don't know the circumstances that led to the arrest, but I have to say that these day I am more inclined to believe that police misuse their authority more than anything else. And statistics about police behavior back that up.

 

[KenO]

It doens't matter what the guy said to the cop. Unless he threatened the officer of physically assaulted the officer, what was said to the officer is irrelevant. The man should have simply been told to unplug his car. In reality, the **** that called the cops is the real moron here. Why is everybody so quick to call police? If there is an issue with something ons chool property, shouldn't school administrators be the first ones to go to? And then shouldn't the schoola dministrators be making the determination if it's right or wrong, and if wrong, then going and asking the man to unplug, and to not do it again? People over react in todays society. I have never once called the police in my entire life, and I hope I don't have to. There's just no reason for it, and there was no justication for calling the police in this instance.

 

[TrevorS]

Fox are reporting the police arrested him at home 11 days after the incident and he spent 15 hours in jail while being processed.

What did the police sergeant say? You guessed it. "A theft is a theft".

Like I said, any chance of arresting the police for wasting police time?

 

[KenO]

Originally Posted By: TrevorS
Fox are reporting the police arrested him at home 11 days after the incident and he spent 15 hours in jail while being processed.

What did the police sergeant say? You guessed it. "A theft is a theft".

Like I said, any chance of arresting the police for wasting police time?



Yes, there was even an 'investigation'. FAR more than $0.05 was wasted investigating this 'crime'. Dude should have been asked not to do it again. Simple as that. If he was some habitual 'offender' and was continuing to do it after he was asked to stop, then thats another issue entirely, but I don't beleive thats the case here. Just idiots over reacting.