Man Steals His Electricity Right From The Tap for Months

Bills suck. But, some you can do without. Do you REALLY need cable? You know what I hate though? People who don’t have cable who need to tell you that they don’t have cable because they are so “super awesome” and “don’t need TV” and crap. So, instead of talking about TV shows they watch, they just talk about how they don’t watch TV shows that you watch which somehow makes them better than you.

Anyway, out of all the bills, the electricity bill is the super most important. That’s a bill worth weeding out a few other things if you need to cut out some fat to pay for it.

A Bethlehem man wasn’t deterred when PPL Electric Utilities Inc. shut off his power, allegedly stealing electricity for three months from the company.

Aaron C. Tannenbaum, 32, of the 2800 block of Brandon Road in Bethlehem, was charged with theft of services after authorities discovered he’d been stealing power from the Allentown-based utility company from the time his electricity was cut off July 30 until Nov. 28, court papers show. Tannenbaum’s high unpaid balance initiated the shutoff, according to court records.

PPL determined Tannenbaum opened the power company’s lock on his electric meter and turned on the electricity without permission, court records say. The lock was found broken Sept. 12 following a PPL investigation into the matter, court papers say.

Company workers found jumper cables attached to the meter and a car battery, court papers say. PPL said it terminated the power once more, bringing out a bucket truck to cut the electrical lines leading to Tannenbaum’s home.

The total value of services stolen and the cost of investigating the theft was $733.42, according to PPL officials.

Bethlehem police say they interviewed several witnesses near Tannenbaum’s home who said they’d seen him drive his truck to the meter and hook up cables to access electricity on regular occasions, according to court papers. SOURCE: The Express-Times

This just seems like a lot of work for something you figure you’re going to be caught doing at some point anyway. 

Also, hooking up the car battery… pretty smart, but holy hell I’d pee myself when I connected those things. When I was a kid I once took a plug out of a boom box and then put the open ends of the cable wires on a D battery and then plugged it into the wall.

Needless to say, that was not a good idea.