He said, “Kid, we found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it.” And I said, “Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope under that garbage.”
This is pretty much right. I was originally just going to go up and be like “dude, wtf, really?” and that’s that. But then I realized if he’s willing to hop onto my patio to steal from me, he may be a shitty neighbor in other ways. So now I want to involve the management and document so that whatever his next shenanigans are, whatever they may be, he’s halfway to being evicted.
… But it would be funny if I could somehow cause a nuclear explosion at his house through the cord.
Did you talk to the building manager yet?
Oh now, explosions I can help with*.
It will of course require you to break into his apartment and rewire a few things, but hey, he’s already let that horse out of the barn!
*Summer job wiring up electric signs… I was so sure I’d put those 24 neon tubes correctly into sequence. Apparently it was spectacular.
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Because when you are a grown up, there are things that you can handle yourself without involving your mom, the police, the electric company, the building manager, human resources, all your friends, the NSA, Homeland Security, and so forth. Sometimes it’s best to suck it up and slap down ten bucks and handle it yourself. There is no technical or electrical skill needed to complete this task.
And when you are a grown-up, you should really abide by your tenancy agreement, which may disallow making the power outlet unavailable to contractors legally employed on the management’s behalf.
But he doesn’t own the outlet. It’s generally a bad idea to make modifications, even simple non-technical ones, to other peoples’ property their permission.
I’m curious as to why people think that the power company is going to help here. The case above where someone had wired a light in front of the meter - theft from the utility, they care.
Someone plugging into an outlet - utility is getting their money. I imagine they’ll recommend unplugging the offending cord and taking him to small-claims court to recoup your losses.
Short of a massive grow farm (which would probably trip the breaker), I can’t imagine OP is losing much money here - so I’m all for figuring out ways to screw with the thief.
I’m curious as to why people are jumping to the conclusion they DON’T care before someone even bothers with the very minor task of actually calling them first. What’s the major downside of doing that? I see lots of possible upside and very little downside.
And your “screwing with” sounds fun in theory but in practice is dumber than dirt.
Kinda counterproductive - he’s your neighbor. You nuke him, you’d be nuking your own house too.
The reason to get the power company involved is so that he doesn’t have to pay for power he didn’t use. It may be a small amount, or it may be a large amount. Either way, it’s the principle.
And you are thinking that a real live contractor would not be able to get a little padlock off a $10 locking outlet cover in 3 or 4 seconds with nippers? That a contractor would stand there, not knowing what to do, because the outlet was “unavailable”, with no idea as to how to make it available? That this would be viewed as an actual problem or issue by a contractor instead of being dealt with as natural as breathing?
I’m almost sure the wall outlet is private, by the way. I mean, it’s not in an easily accessible area for use by outdoor lighting on the building or something - it’s low on the wall right near my patio door. It’s about as close to being in my apartment that it can be while still being outside. I assume its there to power any sort of lamp or devices I want on my patio, not as something for the common areas to use.
He doesn’t own the windows but he probably hung curtains. He doesn’t own the shower but he probably hung up a shower curtain. This is a modification, not a renovation . If something can be put back exactly the way it was with no sign it was ever any different, what exactly is the problem?
The $10 locking outlet covers require that you remove the single middle screw on your existing faceplate and replace the faceplate with the locking one with the same screw in the same hole. That’s it. No different that buying a decorative outlet cover with your favorite team or unicorns or whatever you are into on it.
That or a grow operation.
If it isn’t his power being turned off, it has to be something that takes a fair amount of power, which to me screams grow operation.
Or maybe perhaps some sort of mass CD/DVD burning for black market CD/DVDs? Illegal huge file server?
What else takes lots of electricity?
Perhaps a hot tub time machine?
Some years ago we ran a branch over to the neighbours - they’d been cut off and the husband asked if we could sub him until payday. A few days later the wife got into an argument with us and in retaliation unplugged the cord. 
I’d call the police. Here’s an example of Theft of Services in PA. I’m pretty sure that what your neighbor has done would be illegal in every state.
Well, if he is drawing near the rated capacity of the outlet (standard 15 amp 120 V outlet, 1,800 watts max), say 1,500 watts, that would be $3.60 per day/$108 a month/$1,314 a year at a rate of 10 cents per kWh (which is a lot when you consider that in 2010 the average household spent $1,419 on electricity; which is to say, a near doubling of costs for the OP if they are drawing that much power, depending on how they both actually use).
Also, a grow farm doesn’t necessarily have to draw more power than a single outlet can handle, especially if it is in an apartment and they use energy-efficient lights; a single 1 kW metal halide/high pressure sodium bulb can light up to a 12x12 foot room according to this link, compared to 7 square feet for seven 150 W incandescents.
Wonder why so many posters think the neighbor is running a pot-growing operation off the OP’s power.
To do that you need a power-hungry setup with high-intensity lamps. The first time SenorBeef (or the landlord, if that’s what dopey neighbor is counting on) got an electric bill juiced up to that extent, there’d be an investigation pronto and goodbye growing setup, long before he’d have a chance to harvest the crop.
Just so I can put my two cents in, photo documentation by SenorBeef followed by immediately contacting the landlord is the best way to go, followed by the locking outlet cover if the landlord is sluggish or doesn’t care.
Now I’m getting paranoid about my own outdoor outlets. What if while I’m at work, nefarious people are sneaking onto the property to recharge their cellphones?