Couple Use Common Tool to Steal Electricity From Power Lines 'Occasionally to Take a Hot Shower

One might think the only purpose for jumper cables is to start up a car's dead battery, but a Florida couple proves they can be used in a different way as well.

Phillip Coy Parker, 34, and Samantha Ashley Hatfield, 29, of Silver Springs, Fla., were arrested Thursday for stealing electricity from power lines.

This couple had been stealing electricity using jumper cables for up to eight months. (Images: Marion County Sheriff's Office)

Marion County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a tip and found "jumper cables clamped to the overhead electric power lines and the other end of the cables connected to the inside of the electric box,” according to the arrest report.

Hatfield told investigators that they had been "without power for a year."

Photo credit: Shutterstock

“We would hook it up occasionally to take a hot shower,” Parker told detectives.

Deputies noted that the couple said the illegal hookup first happened about eight months ago. If this is the case, Ocala City Electric Company representatives said the estimated loss is about $1,274. The couple faces criminal theft charges.

(H/T: WKMG-TV)