A man in Kenai has been charged with allegedly damaging property and stealing electricity from Homer Electric Association.

According to a March 4 affidavit, on Jan. 22 Alaska State Troopers responded to a call from a Kenai resident about power lines that had been cut on his property. The property owner said that Jeff Johansen, 43, had been living on his property with one other person. When the owner visited his property during the week of Jan. 14, he discovered his power box had been damaged and the connected power lines had been cut. Johansen allegedly admitted to the property owner that he was stealing power from HEA, which owns the utility pole near the property.

The property owner reported the cut power lines to troopers as well as to HEA, who investigated the damage on Jan. 22. According to the affidavit, the HEA investigator determined that the utility pole had been tampered with and that a makeshift wire was running from the pole to the trailer in which Johansen had been living. HEA also determined that Johansen had been a person of interest in a similar incident that occurred in December of 2017.

The cost to repair the property owner’s power box was estimated at around $1000, while the cost of repairing the utility box owned was estimated to be $3853, according to the affidavit.

Troopers attempted to make contact with Johansen on Jan. 22, and again on Jan. 28, but were unable to locate him in either instance. A warrant for Johansen’s arrest was requested on March 4, and Johansen faces two counts of third-degree criminal mischief.