Cameras Catch Florida Woman Tampering With Lift Stations

A woman in Florida has been accused of tampering with wastewater infrastructure at various locations.

“Panama City Beach police officers said they arrested 33-year-old Carmen Teresa Sapp after a multiagency investigation into a woman tampering with various municipal lift stations,” WMBB reported.

Sapp, who reportedly lives in of Panama City, “was arrested and charged with nine counts of burglary, attempted criminal mischief of more than $1,000, six counts of tampering with public facilities and six counts of tampering with the sewage system,” according to the Panama City News Herald.

“Sapp also has an arrest history for allegedly tampering with utilities,” the report continued.

Officials say surveillance videos caught Sapp tampering with these systems, according to WMBB.

“According to incident reports and her arrest affidavits Sapp entered a facility in Panama City and in Panama City Beach and turned off the power. Had the facilities alarms not gone off and alerted city officials to the problem Sapp's actions could have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages,” WMBB explained, citing incident reports.

The News Herald noted that “neither her alleged intention nor motivation was made clear by official reports.”

WMBB cited officials as saying: "This is an ongoing investigation and additional charges are expected.”

Officers added, per the News Herald: "The results of [Sapp’s] actions, if not for the emergency response from utility employees, would have adversely affected neighboring residents, public waterways, as well as city roadways by the dispersion of raw sewage, causing health hazards to the community.”

Panama City runs its own wastewater treatment plant. Waste treatment personnel maintain 132 life stations, according to the city.

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