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My Rights? What Rights!

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Fourtease

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona
Someone needs to be sued in this case, & I am hoping you agree. I had received a call from a detective leaving me a message to call him and that it was not about a warrant that I wasnt even aware I had. I returned his call about 4 hours later while I was on my way back from Calif. and he told me I was stealing power. I have removed the little tabs on the back of my meter a time or two but your usage is still recorded and I was billed so no biggy. But thats not what he was talking about. He said that Aps completely removed the underground wiring from my home to the power source which is false(It must be 50 ft)and that I went and obtained the same wire and reconnected it underground and all. Now I am wondering why he is wasting my time, that obsurd accusation wasnt even worth defending. Anyway,I told him to talk to Aps because no wires have ever been removed from my house. That is when He told me they were at my house earlier and disconnected me. How? Well now they pulled the wires out. Now we have a problem. It was 114 degrees out, I had dogs in the house,and they had no right.I hung up he called back insisting I come to see him Mon. morning.I refused,telling him I needed to register my son in school,go to court to see what this warrant is about,get reconnected,and he tells me they wont reconnect me and I better be there at 9 am. I said look,Mon I am busy,Tues my daughter starts High School, Wed,my son starts school, I will call you Wed afternoon. Now he tells me he will be at my place at 9. I said I wont be there, I have 3 kids to worry about,they come first,and I want a lawyer so I will call you Wed.
He showed up at my sons school Mon morning, made me sit in their vehicle,read me my rights, I reminded him I wanted a lawyer, they said tough.
They told me that they know I didnt do this because it was done by a professional but I better tell them who did.Oh my God,what the hell do you want me to do ,make up something? I am telling you Aps never disconnected
any wires whatso ever, We have been saying the same thing over an hour, I ned to go. Thats when they said I am not going anywhere, called a deputy to come and arrest me. In front of my kids, in front of the school. Humiliating. I told them I am suing them and Aps. I will be damned if they put me and my kids through hell just to turn around and drop the charges, I dont want that, I deserve to be heard after all this. I was finally told I would have a lawyer after I am booked and what not. I said I am pretty sure you guys have that wrong and they told me that I watch to much TV. *******s.Did I have the right to a lawyer before all this crap? Can I sue them for forcing me and my children to live without power among everything else we have been through.
 


outonbail

Senior Member
Did I have the right to a lawyer before all this crap?
If you qualify for a court appointed attorney, one will be appointed subsequent to your arraignment. The police do not have to provide you with an attorney at any time.
However, you don't have to provide the police with any information at any time. In fact, you shouldn't offer any explanation or speak with them about any case in which you are a suspect, regardless of what capacity and/or regardless of whether you're guilty or innocent.

Can I sue them for forcing me and my children to live without power among everything else we have been through.
You can sue them for anything you wish. However, you should first consult with an attorney to discuss your chances of prevailing in a civil court. If the attorney wants money up front to file the suit, there is probably little chance of you prevailing or receiving much of a settlement.

If you have a good case, they will accept it on a contingency basis and their fees will come out of the final judgment/settlement.

Do you know who did the illegal electric tap?

How much was your electric bill running per month to keep your home comfortable in 114 degree weather?

If you were running air conditioning all month and paying any less than $500.00, you should have known something was wrong.

So what was your typical monthly bill in the summer months?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
I have removed the little tabs on the back of my meter a time or two but your usage is still recorded and I was billed so no biggy.
removed the little tabs on the back of the meter?

what little tabs are you speaking of? Did you remove the seal in order to do this?

If you are talking about the tabs on the back of the meter that connect to the pinches in the meter base, you are wrong about your usage still being recorded. It isn;t. The problem though is if you remove those tabs, your service will not work unless you install a jumper across the pinches of the meter base. This is a very intentional act of stealing and would rightfully be prosecuted.

You also have to understand that removing a seal on a meter is illegal. It is not your meter and tampering with a meter is a criminal offense in itself.


I have seen power companies install separate metering (not really obvious to those not aware of how they do it) to compare what is really being used and compare that to the meter on the residence. It is done especially when there is a suspicion of theft of power just so they can prosecute the offender.

as to them removing the service lateral: they will have records of any works such as this performed. Due to state regulatory commissions, they cannot simply take such actions without support for such actions. If they have it in their records, the courts will accept they did remove your service lateral.
 

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