After the special deputy and his assistants shall have adjusted the headgates of all ditches, the owners of which are not entitled to the use of such stored water as provided in the preceding section and before such stored water shall have passed the headgates so adjusted, any person who shall raise or tamper with any such headgate in such manner as to misappropriate any portion of such water to his own use and benefit whether he be the owner of such headgate or not, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 together with imprisonment in the county jail for ten (10) days; and not more than $2000 or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Whenever the special deputy or any assistant shall discover any person in the act of committing a misdemeanor declared in this section, he shall arrest such person and turn him over to the sheriff of the county in which the misdemeanor was committed and he shall also file with the county attorney of such county an affidavit setting out the facts with reference to the commission of such misdemeanor.