Armed felon steals over $100k worth of water using a stolen meter in Phelan

[ripcord]

A 51-year-old felon was arrested after taking over $100,000 worth of water using a stolen meter, officials said.

On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, at 5:00 p.m., deputies from the Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station were contacted by employees of the Phelan/Pinon Hills Water District.

According to a news release, the employees were out with a subject who was in possession of a stolen water meter at the water filling station on Sheep Creek Road.

An estimated $105,000 worth of water had been taken using the stolen meter. The tanker truck driven by the suspect identified as Manuel Gomez a resident of Phelan was found to have expired registration.

“During a search of the truck, approximately 8 grams of suspected methamphetamine and a loaded firearm were located,” stated the news release.

https://www.vvng.com/armed-felon-steals-over-100k-worth-of-water-using-a-stolen-meter-in-phelan/

What a piece of shit stealing water in the desert during a drought. Actually he is lucky the authorities caught him instead of the locals, there have been a couple of bad incidents, people seem to get upset when someone pulls up to a fire hydrant and helps themselves with no meter and no backflow.

[harumph]

1. Do they mean "pump?"

A meter simply meters flow rate.

[ripcord]

4. The meter tells the water company how much water has been pumped

A meter has to be attached to the line before water will pump. This station is for people who live off the water lines to buy from the water company, these were put into place when California started cancelling pumping permits. By using a stolen meter he would have avoided paying for the water he took.

[MineralMan]

2. For those not aware, this was in California, near Victorville.