If you charge your phone on a London train, you might get arrested for stealing electricity (this guy did)
Nothing in this world seems more tempting than an empty power outlet at an airport, in a cafe or tucked into a quiet corner of a public place. "I'll just plug my phone in for a minute," you'll say, greedily yanking your power cord out of your bag. That's probably what Robin Lee thought when he plugged his phone in on the London Overground. But instead of a full battery, he ended up in handcuffs, arrested for stealing electricity.
The 45-year-old artist said that a community support officer on the train saw him and pointed him out to four police officers who were standing on the platform (THANKS, TATTLETALE). The officers approached Lee, cuffed him and drove him to the British Transport Police station where he was charged with "suspicion of abstracting electricity."
He was de-arrested shortly afterward, but then re-arrested – and seriously, people, make up your mind – for unacceptable behavior. Lee told the Daily Mail:
The whole thing is pathetic and ridiculous. They shouldn't have plugs on trains and expect you not to use them, or they should cover the plugs or something. To put it there and then arrest you for using it is ridiculous.
Lee says that his phone couldn't have been plugged in more than 8 or 9 minutes, which would've cost the train company an estimated 0.052 cents (according to the Metro, to "completely drain and recharge" a smartphone every day for a year would cost around 19 cents). A spokesperson for Transport for London says that the outlets on the trains are clearly marked with stickers that say they're for the cleaners only and not for public use.
Last year, three people in Los Angeles were arrested for stealing electricity because they used the outlets in Metro stations to charge their phones. But the Metro officers-turned-power crusaders were quickly shut down by Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said that the city's law enforcement officials should focus on "serious crime, not cell phone charging."