I was surprised, but I guess they were just doing their job,” Lee said.

Lee knew all to well how to open hydrants since that was his job when he was a part time firefighter.

Lee said he does not see what he had done as theft since he has filled the pool for years with water from a hydrant but Lee revised that statement after a court appearance on Monday, saying this was the first time he used a garden hose to funnel water from the hydrant to the pool.

Lee use to live in the home but moved next door after selling the home to his grandson.

Lee had plead not guilty Monday and has since been released from jail due to overcrowding, but promised to appear at future court hearings.

Records show Lee was charged with theft from a Kroger store back in 2003 and was put on probation for a year.

The hydrant case is odd, said officials with Greater Cincinnati Water Works, who couldn’t recall any similar arrests.

“It’s not common,” said Connie Roesch, the agency’s superintendent.

It has long been illegal in Cincinnati to hook your hose up to a fire hydrant for public safety reasons, she said.

Connie said “It’s not metered, and it’s stealing water.”

“Fire hydrants are under the jurisdiction of the fire department. They own them. Fire hydrants are there to provide water supply for fighting fires. We don’t want people just hooking up to fire hydrants to fill pools.”

Please give us your feed back. Do you think this is theft and why?