WALES — Talk about a shocking arrest.
A Wales man was charged last week with climbing a utility pole and attaching jumper cable leads in order to get free power.
The utility company was impressed. State police were not.
The electrifying drama began when police were called to escort Central Maine Power officials to the Oak Hill Road home of Nicholas Gagne, 36, where CMP planned to disconnect the power.
“The investigation revealed that Gagne was climbing up the power pole outside of his house and connecting what amounted to jumper cable clamps to the transformer and then running a power line to the ground and then to his house,” Maine State Police wrote in a news release.
“This was the third time CMP had attempted to disconnect the power at the residence, but Gagne kept reconnecting it,” according to state police.
“The CMP official was impressed with the ingenuity,” police said, “but told (Trooper Tyler Plourde) that it was wildly dangerous for risk of electrocution to Gagne and those around the pole, as well as a significant fire danger. It also posed a serious risk to the CMP workers when working on the lines.”
Gagne was arrested Jan. 16 on a charge of theft of services.
According to police, CMP produced an invoice outlining over $3,000 in stolen power, which did not include the labor needed to disconnect the power multiple times.
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