City Worker Tampered With Meters In His House, Police Allege

NEWPORT, RI — A Newport water department worker is accused of removing the registers from the meters in his home and helping himself to free water. Steven S. Kenyon, 49, of Newport, turned himself in at the police station on Monday morning. He was given a summons to appear in court.

Kenyon is being charged with Bypassing meters, gas, electricity, water, police said. Officers investigated after receiving a complaint from another Merton Road resident who told police about seeing the meters "hanging." They are supposed to be attached, police were told, and this occasion was not the first time there was an issue. In September 2017, the meter heads had also allegedly been tampered with, four or five times.

Water department inspectors went to the property and concluded someone had removed the registers, meaning there was no record of the amount of water used. Effectively, the water was being used for free.

The inspectors installed new meters on Jan. 31. However, the water department said these meters show water consumption at the property has steadily declined from Feb. 1 to Feb. 27 and was well below the average in Newport, which is 100 gallons per day. Police said they asked Kenyon about what happened to the meters and did not consider his explanation satisfactory.