Lang
8/9/22
Iowa City Police say a renter was able to stay in his apartment without power for three months because he ran an extension cord into a power outlet in a public hallway.
That’s according to arrest records released on Monday. 58-year-old Kevin Theel was booked into the Johnson County Jail just after 1:30 Sunday morning. Officers were called to Theel’s Lakeside Drive apartment on December 29th to help with his eviction. Theel was not home, but officers found an extension cord running from the apartment to an outlet in the public hallway. An investigation determined that Theel’s electricity had been cut off on September 29th, and for the previous three months he’d been using the extension cord to power lights and other devices in his bedroom. He’s now charged with 5th Degree Theft.
Theel was also charged with Domestic Abuse Assault – 2nd Offense after police say he attacked a woman with whom he lived off-and-on at her Iowa Avenue apartment last January. He allegedly stomped her arm during an argument and told her he was going to kill her. Theel has a previous domestic assault with strangulation conviction out of Black Hawk County from 2016.
If convicted on both Iowa City charges, Theel faces a maximum of 25 months in jail.
