Actor Tom Selleck and his wife have been accused of shameless water thievery in drought-stricken California.
The Calleguas Municipal Water District has filed suit against the 70-year-old actor (Magnum, P.I., Blue Bloods, Richard on Friends, himself on Muppet Babies) and his wife, Jillie Mack. In the complaint, the Calleguas MWD accuses the couple of repeatedly stealing truckloads of water from public hydrants, and having the large quantities of water hauled via commercial truck back to their beautiful Hidden Valley ranch, which is located in a different water district.
Selleck’s 60-acre, Spanish colonial-style ranch property includes eight bedrooms, stables, a helipad, swimming pool, golf course, and avocado farm. (The kicker here is that Tom Selleck don’t give a shit about avocados: “I don’t eat ’em,” he told People magazine in 2012, reportedly grimacing. “Honestly, they make me gag.”)
The public water district filed the complaint in Ventura County Superior Court on Monday, alleging that water was stolen on at least 12 occasions since 2013—all in the midst of the Golden State’s historic drought. The water district spent roughly $22,000 on a private investigator to nail Selleck, himself a former (fictional) private investigator. The Calleguas MWD is seeking an injunction barring Selleck and his fellow alleged water thieves from exporting water from the district.
“We have a massive call for supply reduction in our service area, and those supplies that are remaining should rightfully be used by those who have invested in the water system,” Eric Bergh, Calleguas MWD’s manager of resources, told The Daily Beast. “This is not a drought-shaming issue; this is a legal issue. Whether rain or shine, [these rules] would still apply.”
“We have a massive call for supply reduction in our service area, and those supplies that are remaining should rightfully be used by those who have invested in the water system,” Eric Bergh, Calleguas MWD’s manager of resources, told The Daily Beast. “This is not a drought-shaming issue; this is a legal issue. Whether rain or shine, [these rules] would still apply.”
Bergh provided The Daily Beast with copies of the complaint, as well as cease-and-desist letters sent to Selleck and Mack in November 2013. Read them below:
This isn’t the first time Selleck has been involved in a legal battle. In 2009, Selleck was awarded $187,000 after a jury in California determined that a Del Mar equestrian tricked him into buying a lame horse. And in the ’80s and ’90s, Selleck went on legal crusades against the tabloids, which included a $20 million lawsuit against the Globe for reprinting posters identifying him as a closeted homosexual.
Selleck’s publicist did not respond to a request for comment regarding his alleged water heists.