A Morgan Hill woman was arrested Thursday after police were
called to assist the Santa Clara County Fire Department with a fire
at her residence, but she was not arrested on arson charges. Susan
Ketchum, 27, was taken to county jail on a felony charge of theft
of public utilities, Morgan Hill Police Lt. Joe Sampson said
Friday.
A Morgan Hill woman was arrested Thursday after police were called to assist the Santa Clara County Fire Department with a fire at her residence, but she was not arrested on arson charges.
Susan Ketchum, 27, was taken to county jail on a felony charge of theft of public utilities, Morgan Hill Police Lt. Joe Sampson said Friday.
“We were called in as they investigated, and the cause of the fire was believed to be electrical,” he said. “But it shouldn’t have been: Electrical service to the residence at 2450 Houston Court had been terminated earlier this month.”
Both the gas and the electric had been reconnected illegally, Sampson said.
“Someone there had circumvented the meter and reconnected (the electricity) themselves,” he said. “They had done something similar with the gas utility as well, they had breached the box that PG&E had installed.”
Santa Clara County Fire Department Capt. Eric Wood said Friday that the fire was “a small kitchen fire,” and it was extinguished quickly, before it spread to other areas. No one was injured in the fire.
Ketchum was at the residence when firefighters responded, Wood said, and she was later arrested by MHPD officers.
According to Sampson, this was not the first time Ketchum had reconnected her utilities, which was the reason for the felony charge. She could face up to a year in county jail or in a state prision.
