Man Faces Charges for Stealing Natural Gas

Police arrested a Huron Township man after they discovered he was stealing natural gas from his gas line.

According to the police report, the officer asked the man if he had been tampering with the gas line and the man said no. Still able to detect the smell of natural gas, the officer examined the man’s gas meter. The smell of gas was particularly strong near the meter, and the officer noticed footprints around the meter.

The man didn’t confess to tampering with the meter until the after the officer read him his Miranda Rights. He said he was simply trying to heat up the house for his family because they were cold, and that he used channel locks and a pipe wrench to twist the lock off. He told police he then used a pry bar to turn on the gas. In addition to tampering with his gas line, he had an electric cord running from his neighbor’s house into his house so he could operate an electric space heater.

According to the police report the man fell behind on his gas bill after his Social Security was cut off for three months.

After running a check on the man, police learned he had several warrants out for his arrest for misdemeanor offenses, some of which include traffic violations and having an unlicensed domestic animal.