GPD: Would-be power thief ‘caught in the act’

Bond has been set at $1,300 for a Gainesville man arrested by police who say he was attempting to steal electricity.

“Incident occurred at a homeless encampment off McEver Road,” Gainesville Police spokesman Kevin Holbrook wrote in an email. “He had broken into a utility box of some sorts, did damage to the breaker box. He hooked up an extension cord and ran it to the encampment.”

Holbrook added Jerry Robert Ober, 44, was “was caught in the act.” Ober was booked into the Hall County Jail Friday afternoon.