# What is the legal status of consuming publicly accessible things on private property? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511 "2013-12-04T20:48:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/61 "2013-12-08T13:51:08Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > As fascinated as I am by electric car brouhaha, here’s a different example. In Los Angeles, we have lots of fruit trees. It is legal for the public to harvest fruit from a privately owned tree if the fruit overhangs a public space–typically the sidewalk, maybe the easement counts too. Not sure if this is a city, county, or state law. The law is similar here. If my neighbour’s apple tree has a branch loaded with apples hanging over my side of the fence, I can legally pick and eat them. The same goes for the orchard owner with trees next to the fence. To throw something else in the mix: What about the guy who parks in the street and uses my bandwidth? I know I should have it secured, but surely he is stealing? If I leave my keys in my car, it doesn’t give anyone the right to drive off with it. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/62 "2013-12-08T14:54:09Z")
Looks to me like a collision of two assholes. First, it was a local citizen who reported it, not the school. That doesn’t mean much, other than that it wasn’t an official calling from the school. I don’t fault the citizen for reporting it. If done repeatedly, it ends up costing the public. A few minutes doesn’t cost much, but if you charge your car up fully every week, what does that cost? What does it cost if everyone starts doing it? We don’t know whether he was warned not to be there; we have two contradictory allegations. Until we get corroboration, do we assume the cop is telling the truth? er? Did the cop have probable cause to enter the car? Can it really be described as abandoned? Based on what criteria? Was it locked, and does that matter? My guess is no, but if it was it would have mattered. I don’t believe a cop needs a warrant to open an unlocked door (please disabuse me if I’m wrong!) I may be reading too much into it, but what I think I see is a guy with a sense of entitlement and a bit of belligerence attitude plus a cop with an overdeveloped sense of authority. Little good can come of it. Most likely outcome: Guy will get his wrist slapped and have to pay fines, and be warned not to do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/63 "2013-12-08T15:10:38Z")
I once saw a guy at the outside section of Hooters filling an empty potato chip bag with hot sauce from the bottle on the table. They threw him out. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/64 "2013-12-08T15:43:17Z")
Gah. I need to get in the habit of using “preview”. ---
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/65 "2013-12-08T16:22:09Z")
I have been in the restaurant business for 45 yrs and people still have the impression that a restaurant is public property not just a public place. The number of times someone dumped the sugar caddy into their purse or just took the entire mint bowl are too numerous to even attempt to count. Eating out would be far less expensive if customers used only what was needed rather than take anything not nailed down as if it was their right! ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/66 "2013-12-08T19:35:07Z")
[This article](http://www.11alive.com/news/article/314666/40/Electric-car-owner-charged-with-stealing-5-cents-worth-of-juice) has the whole statement from the Police Chief which contains a couple nuggets I hadn’t seen yet. It says the car was parked “_in the rear of the building at the kitchen loading dock up against the wall with a cord run to an outlet_”, and “Mr. Kamooneh’s son is not a student at the middle school and he was not the one playing tennis. Mr. Kamooneh was taking lessons himself.” So, this certainly wasn’t a case of “charging the cell phone while at your kids recital.” He just picked this random place for tennis lessons, was told by school officials not to be on the grounds without permission because he had been “interfering with the use of the tennis courts previously _during school hours_” (seriously, during school?), he went there again, parked in the back by the loading dock and ran a cord to the outlet. It may be 5 cents, but I think we can call it premeditated. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/67 "2013-12-08T19:53:00Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I disagree strongly. The criminal justice system is not the place to regulate whether someone’s being a dick or not… I believe criminal law is suppose to be about defining specific rules about what conduct is not permitted and specifying that in a clear manner so that people can reasonably conform their behavior to that _objective_ (at least in theory) standard. If you redefine the purpose of criminal court to be determining whether someone was acting like a dick or not, you greatly increase the uncertainty of criminal law and can put fear into people as to whether or not they might be transgressing some unwritten social law whose interpretation might vary from town to town or even individual to individual. “In this neighborhood, it’s socially unacceptable to wear that kind of clothes. Off to jail with you.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/68 "2013-12-08T23:28:54Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > That sounds illegal to me!\* > Destroying someone’s property without a court order? If you can cut the wire, why not cut his brake lines, too, or remove the battery from his engine.? > Sure, he’s violating the law by using your services and not paying the fee. But that is true of, say, anybody who parks in a parking lot and doesnt pay the fee. > And we’re suposed to to punish people using courts and judges, not vigilante actions. > \*(it also sounds like a practical and effective method to make people pay the 5 bucks cash for the camping site, too. 🙂 And a whole lot easier than calling a cop to write a ticket and then tow the vehicle. But that doesn’t make it legal.) It IS a licensed police officer doing this (or the maintenance worker with him). And the illegal parker frequently causes other problems – like when the person who has reserved that spot shows up and finds someone already squatting there. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511/69 "2013-12-08T23:45:18Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > yes, I wondered why he was inside the car – just going to the outlet & unplugging the cord would have worked. Could have been looking for the registration if he couldn’t look it up from his cruiser OR in light of being backed up to a loading dock looking for stolen goods. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legal-status-of-consuming-publicly-accessible-things-on-private-property/675511.md?page=3)