Elephant Man Arrested For Stealing Electricity

Category: News Created on Friday, 10 June 2011 23:30 Written by Kingsley Irish

Dancehall deejay Elephant Man appeared before the Corporate Area Criminal Court in Jamaica, facing accusations that he stole electricity from the Jamaica Public Service (JPS).

The singer, whose real name is O’Neil Bryan, was arrested at his home on Hillcrest Avenue in Kingston after it was allegedly discovered that he was using stolen electricity.

According to reports, a team from JPS, accompanied by the police, was carrying out an operation on Hillcrest Avenue when they visited a property housing several apartments. While inspecting the electric metering point, it was allegedly discovered that the meter contained an illegal connection, which went directly to an apartment they said was occupied by the singer.

It’s alleged that the singer was escorted from his home and shown the connection and the wires that were being used before he was then taken back into the house where the team are said to have observed several appliances that were being powered by the stolen electricity.

The JPS team said they observed several high end appliances in the artist apartment being powered by the stolen electricity. Investigators said the appliances in his apartment consume approximately 2,200 kilo watt hours per month in total, which equates to a hefty J$68,000 per month bill estimate.

The “Pon de river, pon de bank” deejay pleaded not guilty on Thursday to abstracting electricity and his station bail was extended for him to return to court on August 30 for trial.

Elephant Man’s most recent brush with the law prior to this incident involved the seizure of his Mercedes Benz by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD). His vehicle was taken away after failure to pay the millions of dollars he owed the IRD in taxes.

Elephant Man is renowned for many dance singles in his over ten years on the Dancehall scene. “Sweep,” “Gully Creepa” & “Willie Bounce” are amongst some of his most noteworthy singles.