Bellefonte Borough police say they know the man in question but have not released information pertaining to potential charges, if any.
A Tesla owner parked, charging in a Bellefonte, PA parking lot, got a notification that his vehicle unexpectedly stopped charging. When he got back to his Tesla, he discovered that his charging card had been randomly unplugged.
Fortunately, Tesla owners can enable a sentry mode that records activity happening around their car. When the Tesla owner reviewed his footage, he was shocked to find someone walking up to his Tesla and unplugging his charging cord for no particular reason.
Check out his sentry mode footage below.
The incident took place in the public parking lot in between W Howard St. and W. Pike St. (exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
In the video we see a man in a Ford Super Duty place something in the bed of his truck in the same parking lot. After closing his tailgate, he looks around to see if anyone’s watching him.
“A few minutes after leaving my car, this guy got out of his truck, forcefully ripped out the charge port, then got into his truck and drove away,” the Tesla owner says in the video’s caption.
“I was notified on my phone that the car stopped charging, and by the time I got back to my car, the truck driver was already gone.”
He, like a lot of other angry males who rip charging cords from Teslas out, probably didn’t know he was being recorded in HD.
And it was pretty clear what he was doing, as unplugging the charging cord required several hard shakes.
“I then reviewed the footage to see what took place. Police claimed they identified the man, but it was not released and it is unknown if he faced any charges or consequences.”
I’m not aware of any laws in any U.S. state where it’s illegal to unplug someone’s EV, so, as to what Bellefonte police would charge this guy, your guess is as good as mine.
This can arguably be charged as Criminal Mischief where property damage less than $150 is classified as a summary offense typically punishable by a fine less than $300.
Just leave other people’s property alone, people.
But, if you want an easy way to sully your record, unplugging a Tesla and waiving at the cameras is an easy way to do it.
