Family Sues SoCal Edison Over Nearly $140K Bill Racked Up By Alleged Pot-Growing Tenant
ROWLAND HEIGHTS (CBS/AP) — A San Gabriel Valley family is suing Southern California Edison after their power was cut off when they didn't pay a nearly $140,000 bill that was racked up by an alleged pot-growing tenant.
Shu Chih Sun, her son and her daughter-in-law, Mitha Pratiwi, are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. They're alleging breach of service agreement, along with emotional distress.
Pratiwi's husband leased a Corona home to Dominic Do, whose birth name is Raymond A. Lam, from Feb. 2009 until Oct. 2011.
Lam was arrested last March on suspicion of growing pot on the residence.
An investigation revealed that Lam grew the marijuana by bypassing the Edison meter, according to the suit.
Last spring, Edison charged Pratiwi $138,577 for "unauthorized use of service from March 21, 2010 to March 20, 2013," the plaintiffs stated.
"Her name was on the bill, but the bill was incurred by the criminal activity of a tenant," attorney Michael Lo said.
"I got the bill because it was under my name, but I'm not living there," Pratiwi said.
Two weeks ago, the electricity was turned off to the family's Rowland Heights home. The residence is now being powered by a generator that provides enough energy to merely keep the lights on.
The family will go to court on March 12 to ask that Edison be ordered to restore the electricity.
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