Wally
Wally GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
2/8/09 6:10 p.m.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/26/2680.asp

Poland: Man Uses Speed Camera to Power Neighborhood It took more than a year to find a man used a nearby speed camera to power two neighborhood houses in Mragowo, Poland. A 44-year-old Polish man came up with a better use for the speed camera that had constantly flashed outside his home in Mragowo, a town north of Warsaw. The man, identified by Warminsko-Mazurska police only as Piotr W., admitted last week to burying an extension cord two feet underground to tap into the automated ticketing machine's power supply. Between December 2007 and January 2009, the camera powered not only the man's home, but that of a neighbor. It took more than a year before officials noticed that the electricity bill for the police was unusually high. On January 27, an officer who was sent out to investigate found the buried cord and followed it to Piotr's home. Upon being confronted, Piotr W. and girlfriend Anna M. immediately confessed to taking the power. In light of their cooperation, a judge suspended a jail sentence and ordered the man to repair the damage, pay a fine of 800 Zlotych (US $225), and pay back the city for the 4300 Zlotych (US $1200) in electricity taken.
mel_horn
mel_horn HalfDork
2/8/09 7:28 p.m.

The same people investigated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
2/9/09 6:31 a.m.

I would have done something to throw off anyone trying to trace the wires, like hook up a common ground to a lamppost and do some weird Tom & Jerry stuff with the AC power side too. Maybe hook them both up to the face of a sign (with a non-conducting post), lots of fun for passers-by as well

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