Ex-Loudon County deputy found guilty of electricity theft
By Darren Dunlapof The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: June 24. 2009 3:01AM
Last modified: June 23. 2009 10:59PM
A former Loudon County Sheriff's deputy was found guilty of theft of services on Monday in Blount County Circuit Court.
David Dewayne Drinnen, 44, Long Hollow Road, Maryville, was convicted of theft of electric service from Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative.
A company serviceman discovered the theft when he went to disconnect electricity and get an electric meter at a Long Hollow Road residence on May 23, 2007. He learned there were people living in the house, and Drinnen's fiance suspected him of the theft, according to a Blount County Sheriff's Office report. The employee found two meters, one belonging to Fort Loudoun Electric and another from Lenoir City Electric.
Drinnen arrived and told the employee and a BCSO deputy that he had found a digital meter. He said he was having electric problems that Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative had not fixed, and he was "using the digital meter to help fix them himself."
Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative alleged theft had occurred intermittently since early March 2007, the BCSO report stated. The company later accepted a check from Drinnen and reconnected the electricity. Drinnen was sentenced to 72 hours, according to Blount County Circuit Court records.
Drinnen has not been an employee with the Loudon County Sheriff's Department for about a year, said Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider.
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