[bkcunningham1]

Originally Posted by MLBellis

do not know how true this is....it is worth passing around.....one of my neighbors sent this to me.

SUDDEN POWER LOSS?

Pay attention, I'm serious. My neighbor's entire house electricity went out. In a few minutes a young man was at the door and told her he was working on a house up the street and saw smoke from her outside electrical box. He offered to look at it and to fix whatever was wrong. Luckily she is one of my friends and had the presence of mind to refuse his offer and called me. I checked everything out and found nothing wrong except the master circuit breakers were tripped. I'm not a professional electrician, but I have an electrical degree from the USNA and many years in Navy electrical mishaps.
I concluded that the kid must have been up to something and asked my neighbor to call the police; which she did. She was told that officers would be right out as there had been other complaints just like hers. It turns out this kid has been active throughout the Villages and has dunned several gullible persons out of cash and caused damage by tripping their outside circuit breakers.

Now, If you see, hear or experience anything like this, delay him if possible and get the police out---they want to catch him in the act if they can. If he leaves, see if you can get his license plate number---although he usually parks on another street or down the block.

Someone told me a similar story. It happened to a lady on the historic side who lives in a manufactured home. I'm curious if the person you mentioned lives in an older home site built house or in a manufactured home, both of which absolutely have the main disconnect to the house, a breaker, on the exterior. This breaker is lockable. So if there is a padlock on it, all your problems would be solved.

[l2ridehd]

Actually there is a power distribution box in your back yard. You have three green boxes back there. Two tall narrow ones and one about 2 feet by three feet. The larger one is power. It has a swing up cover and power can be turned off to your home from inside. It will control your home plus about 3 or 4 others. There are separate pull fuse blocks for each home. The taller ones are for Comcast and telephone.

How do I know this you ask? Got a letter from Seco that my shrubs were blocking the cover and that they could not turn off power to my home or other homes in an emergency. I checked it out and trimmed my shrubs so the cover could swing open.

[LB]

Our home in West Palm Beach has a box next to the meter and does have a breaker that will shut off the house electric. It is so that fire fighters can shut off the electric if they are called to the house for a fire. They could fight the fire and not be concerned about eloctruction. Not sure what our place in Orang Blossom gardens has. I will look when we visit again. LB

[mulligan]

It's not just the cover swing on the transformer box, they require 10 feet of clearance to operate the switches. It's a safety thing.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by mulligan

It's not just the cover swing on the transformer box, they require 10 feet of clearance to operate the switches. It's a safety thing.

Yup - 10 feet on the 'front' of the box, 3 feet on the other 3 sides. See also the graphic and info at the bottom of this link:

Plant the right tree, in the right place

Bill

[petenj]

This is happening and CW and Law Enforcement are aware of it.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by petenj

This is happening and CW and Law Enforcement are aware of it.

I have read everything written on this thread. I felt it sounded like one of the rumors that get circulated. I have read posts by people I trust saying it is not possible to have this happen unless you left your garage door up or unlocked and then found it was possible on the historic side but preventable in that area if you kept a padlock on it.

I think that I would like to understand more about the particulars of the law officers and the conversation at Outback. I will call the sheriff myself and ask if this is a problem or a rumor. If any of you would like to look up the not emergency number and call them you can and also a good source is the news desk at The Daily Sun. They get reports of rumors that they are checking for accuracy all of the time.

We will find out whether this is fact or fiction.

I do know this...that inaccurate things are typed on this forum all of the time and unless we know for sure we will worry and I do not mean to diminish the OP, he said he received the information in an email. Those emails spread like wildfire.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I have read everything written on this thread. I felt it sounded like one of the rumors that get circulated. I have read posts by people I trust saying it is not possible to have this happen unless you left your garage door up or unlocked and then found it was possible on the historic side but preventable in that area if you kept a padlock on it.

I think that I would like to understand more about the particulars of the law officers and the conversation at Outback. I will call the sheriff myself and ask if this is a problem or a rumor. If any of you would like to look up the not emergency number and call them you can and also a good source is the news desk at The Daily Sun. They get reports of rumors that they are checking for accuracy all of the time.

We will find out whether this is fact or fiction.

I do know this...that inaccurate things are typed on this forum all of the time and unless we know for sure we will worry and I do not mean to diminish the OP, he said he received the information in an email. Those emails spread like wildfire.

I just called The Villages office of the Sumter County Sheriff's office and spoke to two people, the second being the person at Crimes against Seniors and she said she reads TOTV every day and read this very thread and has not heard anything about this as a real happening from anyone who has been so affected.

[pjolson]

Thank you Gracie!

[justjim]

The two cops at the Outback---- maybe they were Lake County. The Historical side is Lake County I think.

[bkcunningham1]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I just called The Villages office of the Sumter County Sheriff's office and spoke to two people, the second being the person at Crimes against Seniors and she said she reads TOTV every day and read this very thread and has not heard anything about this as a real happening from anyone who has been so affected.

Gracie, I think it is great that you called the Sumter County Sheriff's Department. If you get a chance, would you call the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the Marion County Sheriff's Department too. Also, please call the Lady Lake Police Department and see if they've received any such complaints.

Watch out crooks. We've got Gracie on the case. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ;~)

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by bkcunningham1

Gracie, I think it is great that you called the Sumter County Sheriff's Department. If you get a chance, would you call the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the Marion County Sheriff's Department too. Also, please call the Lady Lake Police Department and see if they've received any such complaints.

Watch out crooks. We've got Gracie on the case. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ;~)

Now Bk. The problem is...not to watch out crooks, but if there ARE crooks in this particular issue.


Here are the numbers for anyone who wants to check.

Marion County Sheriffs Department. 352.368.3558
Lady Lake Police Department. 352 751.1560 ( I called this number and the dispatcher couldn't remember, when pressed she thought there might have been something like that happen, when asked whether it was recently or say, a month ago, she couldn't remember)
Lake County Sheriffs Department 352.343.9529

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by MLBellis

I just came back from the Outback... I spoke to two police officers who were there having dinner...they did comfirm this is true... they have caught this guy a few times, but when he gets out he goes back to do it again.... they also said, now his friends are doing it too!

Outback? Dunkin' Donuts would be more believable. Any way, trailers have a box on the outside with a lever that can be pulled to shut off the electric. I don't think that it trips the breakers.

[MinnieM]

I personnally know a person that this has happened to. She lives in Country Club Hills. After her power went out a man knocked on the door and asked her if she was having problems with her electricity. She said her power was out and she was going to call Progress Energy. He kept saying he should come in and check it out for her. She would not open her and told him she was calling Progress. She called the electric company and they came out within 10-15 minutes because they were in the area. They told her someone shut her power off. She told them about the man at her door and they recommended She make a police report which she did. Lake County police came to her house and took her statement. On older manufactured homes the electricity can be shut off behind the house because most of them only have a carport not a garage.

MinnieM

[Bruiser1]

The "easy way" to shut off power is to shut off the breakers in the garage. (Garage doors are frequently open and inviting.

or to Cut the meter seals and pull the meter is also a possibility.

To dig up the underground service and cut the triplex is do-able but that's a lot of work.That is less likely to happen for a number of reasons. (locate rquest to find the underground facilities etc)

That's the reason for the scam is easy money and little labor and trusting neighbors.

1 keep your garage doors secure . Open your breaker panel (in garage) and check if any breakers have tripped.

2. walk over to the electric meter (on the outside of garage -usally) and there will be a seal on the bottom of the meter box.If t is cut or missing someone has been messing with your service.

If your power goes out -check with your neighbors- If they are out too. call your utility SECO etc.
"Crime doesn't pay but the hours are good."