DECATUR, GA -- A DeKalb County prosecutor is expected to drop a criminal charge against an electric car owner, who was arrested for stealing four cents worth of electricity in November.
Kaveh Kamooneh of Decatur was confronted by a Chamblee Police officer after he plugged in his Nissan Leaf to an outdoor electrical outlet at Chamblee Middle School. Chamblee PD obtained an arrest warrant in the case. Kamooneh spent 15 hours at the DeKalb County jail before making bond.
The warrant claimed Kamooneh had stolen $10-25 worth of electricity. Kamooneh said his car had been plugged in for 20 minutes prior to the Chamblee officer's arrival. Georgia Power told 11Alive news the electricity was likely worth four cents.
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Kamooneh's attorney, Bob Rubin, tells 11Alive News he talked with DeKalb Solicitor Sherry Boston about the case, and that Boston agreed to drop the misdemeanor charge of theft by taking. A spokeswoman for Boston would neither confirm nor deny the account, saying paperwork had not been filed.
Chamblee Police said a passerby called police to report that Kamooneh had plugged in his car at the school. Kamooneh said he was at the school watching his son take a tennis lesson when he observed a Chamblee officer inside his car, rifling through his glove compartment. Police said Kamooneh escalated the incident by being "uncooperative," which Kamooneh emphatically denied.
Kamooneh never denied that he'd helped himself to the electricity. The incident took place on a Saturday, when the school was closed.