---
title: "Florida Men Caught Hauling Stolen Power Pole With a Kia After Hurricane Irma"
description: "Florida Man doesn't take a day off."
date: "2017-09-15"
modified: "2017-11-28"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/14355/florida-men-caught-hauling-stolen-power-pole-in-a-kia-after-hurricane-irma"
categories:
  - "Kia News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "Florida Man"
  - "Hurricane Irma"
  - "jacksonville"
  - "Kia"
  - "power"
  - "utilities"
---

# Florida Men Caught Hauling Stolen Power Pole With a Kia After Hurricane Irma

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/09/djndo6gwsaelbmc.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

It takes a special kind of opportunist to look around at the devastation caused by [Hurricane Irma](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/14310/lexus-driver-nearly-crushed-by-falling-tree-during-tropical-storm-irma>) and think *Well, they probably won't notice one more power pole gone.* Then again, Florida Man is nothing [if not industrious,](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/13005/florida-man-tries-to-steal-police-car-with-officer-still-inside>) as deputies with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrested a pair of thieves on Wednesday who were in the process of hauling away a 40-foot utility pole on the roof of their Kia Sorento.

[According to *WFTV News,*](<https://www.wftv.com/news/local/two-men-appear-in-police-custody-with-power-pole-on-suv-in-jacksonville/608678097>) an officer received a report from a witness that the two shirtless men were attempting to lift the pole onto the roof of their crossover on Wednesday morning in Jacksonville. As he arrived on scene, he noticed the overloaded Kia trundling away from a very conspicuous empty space on the bridge where the pole used to be.

The officer quickly pulled them over, at which point 46-year-old Victor Walter Apeler and 42-year-old Blake Lee Waller told him they had found the pole blocking traffic and were trying to be helpful by moving it. [The *Florida Times-Union* reports](<https://jacksonville.com/news/public-safety/2017-09-13/stolen-jea-power-pole-nets-2-arrests-police-said>) the officer asked them why they didn't simply roll it out of the way, to which they unsurprisingly had no answer.

https://twitter.com/_/status/907993574406582277

If you're wondering what on earth the pair planned to do with their haul, officers reportedly ran a pawn database search on Apeler and discovered he had sold scrap metal to various businesses 72 times the beginning of the year. Officials with the local utility company later valued the pole at around $2,500, and both men were charged with grand theft.

Of course even if they had gotten away with it, finding someone to take a public utility pole off your hands is easier said than done. Then again, as Florida man shows us time and time again, where there's a will, [there's a way.](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/12735/florida-man-flees-cops-in-boozy-beach-chase-while-broadcasting-on-facebook-live>)

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)