Lab Found, 9 People Arrested in Poway : Tip on Alleged Power Theft Leads to Drugs

An investigation into the alleged theft of electricity valued at more than $20,000 led to the arrests in Poway of nine people and the discovery of a drug-manufacturing laboratory, officials reported.

Jacqueline Hart, 49, James Hart, 19, John Theodore, 29, and Robert Redeker, 27, all residents of the home on the 14000 block of Sycamore Avenue, were arrested Thursday and held on suspicion of illegal activities ranging from the possession, sale and manufacturing of drugs to theft of electricity, Sheriff’s Deputy Milt Chenay said.

Jacqueline Hart, believed to be the owner of the house, was being held at the County Jail for women at Las Colinas on suspicion of electricity theft from San Diego Gas & Electric Co. The others were being held at the County Jail downtown on suspicion of drug-related activities.

Also arrested on suspicion of drug-related activities was William Theodore, 32, of Ramona. Four other people who police said “were in the wrong place at the wrong time” were arrested and released at the County Jail downtown after bookings on outstanding warrants unrelated to Thursday’s incident.

Found Cooking Lab

“We found a cooking lab, which includes a hot plate, beakers, glass containers, chemicals, powders, ingredients, one pound of methamphetamine in its final stages of preparation, 4 1/2 pounds of cut marijuana, seven growing marijuana plants, $4,000 in cash,” Chenay said.

“This was a transient kind of house,” he said. “People come in and stay a couple of days and leave. Somebody else comes in and stays a couple of days and leaves.”

Sheriff’s deputies were assisting SDG&E; personnel in serving a warrant for energy theft where use over a seven-year period allegedly was worth more than $20,000, Chenay said.

When they entered the house, deputies reported, they saw drug-manufacturing equipment.

Anonymous Tip

Darryl Murry, SDG&E; meter revenue protection supervisor, said an anonymous tip led investigators to the home.

“The caller told us that Hart had been bragging in public about stealing electricity over the past several years. The caller said Hart bragged that the electric tampering was so sophisticated that SDG&E; would never discover it.”

Murry said a three-month investigation of the residence found that a great amount of electricity was stolen over the past seven years. Two illegal connections bypassing a meter from the house to nearby electrical transmission lines were found, Murry said.

“This kind of tampering is very dangerous,” Murry said. “Not only does the person doing it risk electrocution, but the faulty wiring could have started a major house fire.”