Some criminals want to be rich or notorious. But this guy just wants to turn the world into a Looney Tunes cartoon, or introduce more of us to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
A man in Georgia has been arrested, after he was caught stealing MANHOLE COVERS. And not just two or three, at least 91, this month alone. (???)
The suspect’s name is Kailan Whatley, and in his mugshot, he’s wearing a shirt that says, “Free Hugs.”
It’s unclear WHY he was taking the manhole covers, but these weren’t just the smaller circular ones in urban streets. There were also larger storm drain covers from residential neighborhoods.
Kailan was caught on home surveillance cameras, and the covers were so heavy that he needed someone else to help him carry them, and put them in the trunk of a 2020 Nissan Kick. (There’s no update on the accomplice.)
Neighbors were worried that joggers could accidentally fall into these gaping holes, not to mention pets and children.
It’s possible he was grabbing them to sell at scrapyards . . . but there’s probably not a ton of money in that. Still, it costs about $200 to replace each one, and officials are considering adding LOCKS to them, which would add $180. If they replaced all 91 covers with locks, it’d cost around $35,000.
Kailan has been charged with theft of government property, and investigators say additional charges are likely.
(Here’s a local news report on this chaos. And here’s a previous one, where a man jokes that he hopes the county will pay for the manhole covers, because “it’s got their name on it.”)
(Fox 5 Atlanta / CBS News)
