Florida passed a law last year specifically to protect landlords from tenants who refuse to leave.
Kelly Coe got evicted anyway – and kept right on living in the apartment with the power cut.
What she told Cape Coral police when they showed up is the part nobody can believe.
What Happened on Vincennes Street
Coe was evicted from her Vincennes Street apartment on July 8.
The landlord, Willy Tabertshofer, had the electricity disconnected.
"She was evicted from this apartment on July 8, so she wasn't even supposed to be there. They had the power off," Tabertshofer said.
That should have been the end of it.
Instead, a neighbor spotted Coe that Tuesday night running an extension cord from Tabertshofer's property directly into the unit she'd already been removed from – and used it to power an air conditioner.
The neighbor photographed the cord and sent the photo to Tabertshofer, who called police the following day.
Officers found Coe inside.
Her explanation: the apartment was too hot without electricity.
When officers asked about the cord, she denied putting it there herself and blamed another neighbor.
Cape Coral police arrested her anyway.
She now faces charges including burglary and utility theft.
This Is Exactly What Florida Just Passed a Law to Address
Florida landlords have been fighting this exact pattern for years – tenants who get evicted and simply refuse to leave, treating the property as theirs long after any legal right to be there has expired.
It got bad enough that Governor Ron DeSantis signed two new laws in June 2025 specifically targeting unauthorized occupants.
“Florida Senate Bill 322 expedites the removal of unauthorized individuals occupying commercial properties, providing property owners with a streamlined process to regain possession of their property,” a press release read.
DeSantis put squatters on notice.
"Florida doesn't tolerate squatters – we stand with property owners," DeSantis said at the signing. “Florida already has strong protections for homeowners, and the bills I signed today will ensure the same protections for business owners.”
https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1773358713937494103?s=20
Coe wasn't just refusing to leave a disconnected apartment eight days after eviction.
She was actively tapping into a neighbor's electrical service and lying about it when police arrived.
Florida Takes Utility Theft Seriously
Stealing electricity isn't a minor infraction in Florida.
Utility theft can carry both criminal penalties and full restitution – meaning Coe could owe Tabertshofer every dollar her air conditioner pulled through that extension cord.
The burglary charge reflects the fact that she entered and remained in a property she had no legal right to occupy – and used it as a base to steal from the neighboring unit.
Property owners like Tabertshofer do everything right.
They file the paperwork, wait out the process, cut the utilities, change the locks.
And then they find out the person they evicted is still running their air conditioner – on their dime – through a cord stretched across the property line.
This is what happens when an entire generation grows up believing consequences are negotiable.
Eviction notice? Ignore it.
Power gets cut? Run a cord.
Police show up? Blame someone else.
The neighbor who spotted that cord and sent a photograph is the reason this ended with an arrest instead of weeks of continued theft.
Sources:
- Muhammad Abdul Qawee, "Cape Coral woman accused of stealing electricity with extension cord from apartment," Gulf Coast News Now, July 16, 2026.
- Friedman Vartolo LLP, "No Room for Squatters: Florida's 2025–2026 Property Possession Reforms," October 15, 2025.
- Radey Law Firm, "Electricity theft cases on rise," March 30, 2009.
