Water thieves crop up in California

Daily Beast - In drought-plagued California, thieves are getting mighty thirsty.

At least one managed to make off with 500-gallon water tanker. The wide load just up and vanished from a highway offramp.

It was early morning  when the Marina landscaping tanker truck was idling on a median by a tunnel in Oakland, according to police reports. Then some clever perp jacked it—and rode off with its tapped cargo.

It’s one of a growing number of water-related crimes in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown has issued an executive order to cut down water use by 25 percent. These tough times are forcing them to forsake their signature emerald lawns, cut carwash trips, flush the toilet only for number twos. ....

“It’s basically collateral damage I’m sure from the drought,” John Coleman, who sits on the board of the East Bay Municipal Utility District... He rattled off instances ranging from ripping off vacationing families to some going for broke and skimming from the local water source. “We’ve had situations in the past where people have stolen from their neighbor’s houses when they’re gone to some folks who didn’t want to pay for the water and dug under the street and tapped into the main line,” he said.