P.I.: 'Magnum P.I.' Star Tom Selleck Received Stolen Water

Tom Selleck has starred in the TV show “Blue Bloods” for the past several years, but he’s perhaps best known for his title role in the show “Magnum P.I.” So it’s more than a bit ironic that a local water district hired a private investigator to find out who was stealing water from a fire hydrant. According to court filings, that stolen water went straight onto Selleck’s Westlake Village ranch dotted with avocado trees.

Avocados are thirsty trees. According to the California Avocado Commission, an eight year old tree needs 46 gallons of water a day during the month of July. A day. Per tree. Depending on how many trees are on his ranch, Selleck needs a whole lot of water. Bad news in the fourth year of a drought.

According to the court documents obtained by the LA Times, more than a dozen times since 2013 a large water truck pulled up to a fire hydrant in Thousand Oaks, filled up, and then proceeded to Selleck’s ranch.

So what’s the big deal if Selleck is paying for the water? His ranch is in a different water district than the hydrant and the water isn’t supposed to cross district lines. And if Selleck paid the water hauler, the water district didn’t receive any of the money.

The Calleguas Municipal Water District wants the court to halt all future water deliveries to Selleck’s ranch, they want their court costs paid and, one more thing, they want ”Magnum” to pay the $22,000 charged by the real P.I.

Though flooded with publicity over this dust-up, Selleck has not commented.

--Image Tom Selleck by Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons