Two Men Arrested For Water Theft

Two Men Arrested in Theft of City Water from Hydrant

City Manager-Police Commissioner, Clovis Watson, Jr., arrested two men today for tapping into a City water hydrant and stealing City water. David Earl Spencer (WM DOB 01-18-1954) and Joshua Ramsey young (WM DOB 06-17-1986), employees of W.G. Johnson & Son, Inc., were arrested and transported to the Alachua County Detention Center on Friday, 07-29-2005, and charged with theft of water.

The two men were observed pumping water into a W.G. Johnson & Son, Inc. truck from a water hydrant located at the corner of NW 158th Avenue and NW 141st Street in Alachua. Although the men were charged with theft, the primary point of concern was that the City's drinking water system had been compromised. Arbitrary connections such as this by unauthorized persons make the system vulnerable to possible contamination.

As a municipal utility provider, the City of Alachua is responsible for ensuring the safety of our citizens. Policies and procedures are in place to follow when connecting to the City's water system. The City's water department personnel closely monitor all connections into the system to ensure that proper backflow devices are utilized and to secure the integrity of the system.

Misdemeanor theft charge FSS 812.14

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