yes but how do you differentiate that example from someone who sees a $20 bill on the floor and picks it up? are both people thieves?
What if someone shoves a $20 bill though my window into my house?
If my daughter found a $20 bill on the floor at her school and she didn't know whose it was, I would expect her to bring it to the office. No matter how she came across it, it isn't hers.
And I don't see how it's possible for someone to accidentally connect to a network. I am not particularly knowledgeable about Wi-Fi or computers in general and even I know which network is ours and which is the neighbor's because of their names.
I also think that anyone out looking for a connection would be knowledgeable enough to figure out which ones were private and which were public.
All of that is immaterial regarding the case in this article anyway. This guy knew exactly what he was doing.