A 45-year-old UK artist was arrested Friday on a London train for the dastardly crime of "abstracting electricity"—and according to arrestee Robin Lee, the crime is just as "ridiculous" as it sounds, the Evening Standard reports. Even though the outlets on the London Overground are clearly marked as being for cleaners only—a London Underground forum pointed out by the Guardian notes others using the outlets could cause a power surge—Lee decided to charge his iPhone while commuting and ended up getting nailed for it by an "overzealous community support officer," as Lee describes it.
In a British Transport Police statement, Lee was "de-arrested shortly after" for the electricity transgression, but then "was further arrested for unacceptable behaviour" for getting "aggressive" with police. "They should never have arrested me, they knew it was ridiculous," he tells the Standard. "The whole thing was just ridiculous." The amount of electricity Lee ostensibly swiped? It's not clear, but Wired estimates the cost of keeping an iPhone charged for a full year runs less than $1.50. (At least he didn't plug it into an outlet on a Broadway stage.)
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