The following afternoon, I called an electrician and explained exactly what Monica had been doing. I didn’t want an argument, and I certainly wasn’t going to damage her car or do anything that could get me into trouble. Instead, I had him install a lockable weatherproof cover over my outdoor outlet and a small security camera pointed directly toward my driveway. Before leaving, he also showed me how to switch that outlet off completely from inside my garage.

That evening, just as I expected, Monica quietly pulled her Tesla beside my driveway again. She walked across my lawn carrying her charging cable as casually as if the outlet belonged to her. When she reached the garage, however, she discovered the locked cover. She tugged at it several times before noticing the camera above her. Furious, she marched to my front door and demanded that I unlock “her charging outlet.”

I refused. Monica became increasingly angry and insisted she needed the electricity because her battery was almost empty. Then she tried pulling at the locked cover again, apparently hoping she could force it open. That triggered the motion alarm the electrician had connected to the camera. A piercing siren suddenly sounded beside the garage, startling Monica so badly that she dropped the charging cable and screamed. Porch lights came on throughout the street as neighbors stepped outside to see what had happened.

Standing in my doorway, I calmly explained that Monica had been secretly using my electricity for weeks and that the alarm was protecting my property. Several neighbors looked stunned, especially when Monica tried defending herself by saying I “hardly used any electricity anyway.” Her own words made the situation worse. One neighbor reminded her that taking something without permission didn’t become acceptable simply because the owner had more than they needed.

Monica finally returned home humiliated, and she never attempted to use my outlet again. A few days later, after realizing the camera had recorded her previous visits, she reimbursed me for the increase in my electricity bill rather than continue the dispute. I didn’t damage her Tesla, call the police, or seek revenge. I simply made sure that the next time she tried taking something that wasn’t hers, the entire neighborhood would understand exactly what she had been doing.