Posted on 02/28/2008 6:31:07 PM PST by Orange1998
Apparent copper thief gets severe shock 02:29 PM CST on Thursday, February 28, 2008 By JESSICA VESS KVUE News Witnesses describe how a copper thief caused a major power outage in East Austin Wednesday afternoon. Over 7,000 people were without electricity for more than two hours, and authorities say the thief was air lifted to the hospital with severe electrical burns over his entire body. The latest on the case The man was inside the Kingsbury substation. 138,000 volts flow through that substation. There are only 10 substations that large in the entire city. It's fenced in and the gates are locked. Warning signs are posted all around it indicating the threat of a severe electric shock from the equipment could kill someone. Wednesday afternoon Austin Energy officials say it appears that the man cut through the fence in several spots and then went inside, apparently attempting to cut out copper wire that connects the station to the ground. “I heard something pop and everything like that and I came from the creek,” said witness Jesse Hernandez. When Hernandez came up he saw a man still stuck inside the fence of the sub-station. The man was engulfed in flames, 100% of his body was burned.
(Excerpt) Read more at khou.com ...
The electric shock that caught the man on fire also cut off power to 7,300 homes. Most people wanted to see what caused the noise, but nobody expected to see a man on fire. “It was scary because like we heard those two big breakers pop and we went outside and we just saw him back there running like crazy. His whole clothes were on fire. You could see the flames on him. After all we just seen back there and his clothes, I mean his skin was just coming off,”
Remember the last thread we were on & this happened?
The recycling price for copper is pretty high. South of the border, internet providers have a major problem with theives digging up the copper lines to sell.
D*mn. He must have bone from ear to ear.
Is the copper thief cooperating with the coppers? Has he copped a plea?
Prayer for the man, he surely needs them.
Darwin Award for this guy.
Revolting cat, a penny for your thoughts.
Not a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
Sure I will since we replaced 4 a/c units in the last 30 days. :)
I had a few properties in neighborhoods where the A/C compressors were getting stolen. I went to having them installed without a disconnect switch on the outside of the house. Then when the property sold, I would install the disconnect the day before closing.
See my #13. It may be useful to you.
Build a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.
***The man was engulfed in flames, 100% of his body was burned.***
Think of a welding electrode. Now think of the man as the electrode.
Claude Cooper and the Copper Clapper Caper.
Somehow I didn't feel overly sorry for them. [Especially as a couple of months ago copper tubing was swiped from a freezer for a food bank causing a loss of [I think] $2 million in frozen food for the needy.
That does not stop them around here. I know a home builder a/c’s stolen so he started installing them the night before closing. Then they would steal them first thing in the morning. Now he only installs after closing.
“Warning signs are posted”
Gee, maybe if the signs weren’t in Mexican he can sue?
(assuming illegal status. good chance IMHO)
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