"Good Samaritan" facing 7 years over generator help?

[jeanmikecoutu]

This report has a lot of info omitted. The homeowner told the investigator I had come by after it was improperly installed by an individual she purchased the generator from during the storm & I had advised her to leave her main off. When the investigator stalked her around town calling her a liar he was arrested then had me arrested in retribution. She provided the court with the invoices and processed check of the individual who installed it & charges against me were finally dropped.

[savagenomore]

men have been KILLED due to backfeed from improperly installed generators, all they had to do was trip the mail breaker or pull the meter...

[sscoltpython]

there is no "justice" in the justice system.

[tonysshadow]

Wow!...I dont understand folks that think you need permission to even fart. Seems to me that more logical and freedom loving opinion should be the power company is negligent for not installing whatever is necessary to prevent backfeeding into THEIR equipment. My house is my house along with everyscrap of wire in it. Another thought that apparently should be considered...have the power company set up a service pole with meter off the property. Then just plug in. Keep theirs separate from your

[UpcomingJedi]

Since he claims this happened hundreds of times, then its ok for him to be a "good samaritan"? What an idiot. Next time, share the extension cord with the neighbors instead of hooking it up to the wall. What a moron!

[blooddonor70]

It's all the fault of lawyers-they are the cause of 99% of this country's problems.

[dadofmichelle]

Backfeeding a generator can be dangerous as hell - that's why code makes it illegal. Even if the main breaker is turned off, It can kill a lineman, kill a neighbor, or burn a house down.Most of these jury-rigged installations are done without a neutral wire, and if so, generator power can feed into the line and kill a lineman; into a downed wire and kill anyone who comes in contact with it; into the neighbor's house, depending on whether wires are down to the neighbor.Why is this persecution?

[savagenomore]

@dadofmichelle if the main is pulled or the meter is pulled then it's safe...

[bobbj77]

the PRO,s use an interlock or G59 protection

[TwiztedAnimator]

"No good deed goes unpunished." Sad and true...

[turgeo2004]

7 years is too much, just fine him and let him go. and i dont think it should be a felony, maybe a misdemeanor at the most, or at least an infraction like a civil infraction.

[cbarsonfire]

@turgeo2004

In MD he would be charged with a Ciminal misdenendor which if convicted could be up to a 10K fine and 90 days in jail. That would be working without a masters License. Then charged with Civil penalities for not obtaining permits and the list goes on and on. Chances are that if no injury was reported the District court judge would impose fine and jail or one of the two. He could also have a reduced penality.

Thee are many other statutes that could be levied against said person.

[Dave49399]

7 years is a little much. But back feeding is very dangerous. And persons who does it almost always know they’re not supposed to. If you are caught, you should be fined several $1000 dollars. It’s just as bad as DUI or pointing a loaded gun at someone. It is reckless endangerment. If someone is killed, the person responsible should be charged as with a criminal offence including jail time.

[MrLineman1979]

I think the dumb @#$ should get attempted murder charges, I had a fellow crew member in LA after hurricane Katrina from a backfeed generator, Giving CPR to a close friend I had worked with for 5 years is a terrible thing to exprience, ANd not being able to save his life because an idiot like him plugged a generator in to a wall socket, or in to a breaker box. I have been a journeyman lineman for 7 years,and an apprentice for 5 years. He could have killed a kid who stepped on the line.

[jobedied]

He just does not realize you got to pay off the judges and police. it has always worked that way and it always will. Come to New Jersey there are more small town mayors, police, judges and state officials on the take than can ever be written about in a thousand volume book..

[andyb521740]

While 7 years is excessive back feeding into the grid is a huge safety risk for both lineman and your neighbors. I'd like to see this punishment handed out my often, just not 7 years. As these violations run rampant in rural areas.

[smellyfooty]

saudi SECURITY has not been established! Why not?!

[germurph51]

He's drummer in a lezzy band that ballyhoos zer0? Let him do the 7 years "just because"!

[HiddenFromSight]

fwiw, the problem could have easily be avoided if he had of turned off the main breaker.

[WorBlux]

A injury must be real and actual, not merely hypothetical or possible to prove standing

If a lineman had been suffering physical injury or death there should certainly be a civil trial for wrongful death or negligence.

And as another pointed out criminal intent is also missing. The guy was trying to aide persons and property, not destroy them.

[Individualism101]

NSP FTW

[SSILENTNATION]

Yet it is perfectly okay that he (Couteau) took people to court once they addressed his miswiring problem? All those people were doing were trying to correct his incompetence.

[WorBlux]

Nope, that's a complete example of asshattery.

[mrethrift]

You can do 7 years in jail?

[AttunedFlux]

No surprise here. People figuring out that they can have a more efficient power generator is a dangerous thing is it not?...with regards to the power company's profits anyway.

[Anothercoilgun]

This planet is a joke.  Evil reigns and the poolwomen of earth are busting at the seems of this forsaken rock.

[TheBravo345]

Indeed

[josda1000]

this is absolute power corrupting absolutely. tyranny.

[803honda]

FYI. all you have to do to aviod feeding the grid is flip the main breaker off or remove the main fuse.

[diggingforgold]

I doubt he willingly and knowingly miswired the generator to cause harm to a lineman. Trial by jury. There's not a single person who would convict that man.

I'm also interested in knowing just how many linemen have died from household generator backfeed.

And also, what about rooftop solar panels. Homes that use less power than they generate backfeed into the grid all the time. They even get paid for it. Yet during blackouts, you don't see these people getting arrested.

[astrowanabe]

@diggingforgold I know your comment's old but for others' info solar systems use special grid-tied inverters to ensure the power being fed into the grid matches up with the frequency and phase of the current already there. Also they (as well as automatic standby generators) are required to automatically disconnect themselves from the grid if the grid power goes out to prevent injuries to linemen making repairs. So during a blackout they actually aren't backfeeding.

[Silveracity]

You don't need to connect a generator into the house wiring to use it.

You should NOT do any wiring in a house unless you are a licensed electrician.

Dont most reasonable people know that?

[p00lman]

Yes, but there are plenty of stupid people out there. They need to learn somehow, and if it's from the consequences of their actions, then so be it.

[al8397138]

wow so 7 yrs seems like a good punishment to u

[TheBravo345]

don't argue with the p00lman as if he is a normal person, he is my wholly owned sex slave.

[p00lman]

"Well, you only fucked up the entire power grid to the area, but since it was just a mistake, we can let it slide."

I don't think so. What if it had knocked out the power at a hospital?

[al8397138]

like you said what if ... and since he didnt thats makes your statement illrelavent ..... u cant punish sombody for what ifs .... simply for what theydid do

[TheBravo345]

P00lman is just hunting cock to suck, don't let him. You have to slap him when his teeth scrape.

[p00lman]

But what he did do was something he was unlicensed to do and it put people in danger.

[thereal87]

you should need a license to operate a generator?

[TheBravo345]

P00lman where have you gone sweetheart.

[chris3443]

I just sent this video to DrudgeReport -- maybe if a few other people do it too it will get posted there.

[greatestsongsofLIFE]

This is why i NEVER help anyone or even look at anyone in public (who knows maybe a woman will say i sexually assulted her by looking). Even if a schoolbus full of children stalled on train tracks and i had a tow truck i WOULDNT HELP!

[AubernsRevolution]

This is absolutely flipping crazy! this makes me so sad to see the statists further aggressing against peaceful humans. There is not one slight chance that any of these actions by those calling themselves "government" can be construed as "helping to keep others (anyone) safe from those who hurt us"... saddening and sickening.

[SSILENTNATION]

"After officials intervened against the miswired generator - Couteau took some of them to court". WHY? Did he like the idea that linemen could be hurt by his incompetence?

[RidleyReport]

I think it was the way they went about it, he called it stalking.

[TheBravo345]

UMMM, address?

[SSILENTNATION]

Dum Dum - how many times do I have to write it. Idiot.

[MrNattyville]

@SSILENTNATION

Maybe this will wake people up. Don't backfeed!! Most people don't know what they are doing. There should be more advertisement about this. If it's not grounded it' not dead.

[sharpie443]

could endangered others but didn't. I don't see the crime here a letter telling him not to do it again would be a more balanced action.

[RecumbentReCycler]

The legal system has been set up so that people can get extremely severe sentences so that prosecutors can easily persuade people to take plea deals, thereby reducing the amount of effort the state has to put into prosecuting people.

On a side note, you're looking really healthy lately. It looks like you've lost a lot of weight.

[anarchistassilum]

teach him to help people

[AssilemakaMelissa]

It is obvious they trumped up all these charges in order to try and shut him up. Ridiculous.