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Man burned in electric pole climb
The Item ^ | 25 April 2006 | CRYSTAL OWENS

Posted on 04/26/2006 1:44:26 PM PDT by aomagrat

A Sumter man was severely burned late Sunday night after he reportedly climbed an electrical pole to try and steal copper wire.

Authorities said Herbert Wayne Odom, 34, of 306 E. Charlotte Ave. was taken to Tuomey Regional Medical Center and later flown by helicopter to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga., following the 9:30 p.m. incident.

"There's fluid around his heart, and he's burnt up pretty good," said a man who only wanted to be identified as Odom's brother. "We're not sure if he's going to make it."

His condition could not be determined as of late Monday night.

A Sumter Police report said officers responded to the 700 block of Broad Street to find a semi-conscious Odom trapped between two transformers.

It's not known how long Odom was trapped before rescue crews arrived to free him, but the report said officers left the incident scene about four hours after they were called in.

Police said a ladder, rubber and garden gloves, vice grips and a wrench were seized from the scene.

Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson said most people generally steal copper wire from construction sites and don't risk the chance of being injured by climbing an electrical pole.

"In my experience, this is the first time I've heard of anything like this happening," she said.

Theft of copper wire and aluminum is on the rise, authorities said, because it can be sold at high market prices. The increase, officials have said, is fueled in part by a building boom in China that has pushed the demand for copper and aluminum to historic highs.

Police said during a search of Odom's home, they found a pile of stripped copper wire in his back yard.

Patterson said Odom has not been charged in the incident, but his girlfriend, Rebecca E. Greggs, 43, of 1540 N. Main St. was arrested after she reportedly told officers she dropped her boyfriend off on Broad Street and was told to come pick him back up.

She is being held at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing, a jail spokesman said Monday.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: alakazot; copper; darwin; darwinaward; feelthelove; holdmuhbeer; kerpow; poof; reallifezot; stupid; wayne; zap
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To: Charles Henrickson; martin_fierro

** Wayne Alert **


21 posted on 04/26/2006 1:57:34 PM PDT by mikrofon ("Don't Climb the Electric Pole")
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To: dead
Herbert Wayne Odom

Attentive freepers will note the middle name. It's a real killer.

22 posted on 04/26/2006 1:58:23 PM PDT by pa_dweller (South of the border - a phrase fast losing its meaning)
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To: aomagrat

"a man who only wanted to be identified as Odom's brother."

This is my brother Earl, and this is my other brother Earl.


23 posted on 04/26/2006 1:58:58 PM PDT by seawolf101
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To: aomagrat

Ditto.


24 posted on 04/26/2006 1:59:59 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: cbkaty
I think I saw on a "This Old House" show a visit to some "Habitat for Humanity" construction site. They commented on
the plastic plumbing coming out of the slab foundation. The H4H guy said they had to use non-copper, else thieves come
by and cut it off at the slab...
25 posted on 04/26/2006 2:01:44 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: aomagrat
A Sumter Police report said officers responded to the 700 block of Broad Street to find a semi-conscious Odom trapped between two transformers.
26 posted on 04/26/2006 2:04:53 PM PDT by aomagrat ("Now having seen muslim mercy, I would rather worship cobras.")
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To: Larry Lucido
Odom was quoted as saying, "You coppers won't make this charge stick. I'll take this to circuit court! I'll take it all the way to DC!"

I'd gauge this as the reaction of someone who's been insulated from reality for far too long.

(added keyword "WAYNE")

27 posted on 04/26/2006 2:05:55 PM PDT by pa_dweller (South of the border - a phrase fast losing its meaning)
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To: mikrofon

OK, I'll bite. What's the significance of "Wayne"?


28 posted on 04/26/2006 2:08:03 PM PDT by You Dirty Rats (I Love Free Republic!!!)
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To: aomagrat
As a former High Voltage Distribution Lineman, please remember: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

I'm very surprised he lived after making contact with a high voltage line. Most don't.

The voltage he contacted was most likely 7200 volts... that's a lotta juice! Remember, that's the usual voltage, per wire, you have strung on the power pole outside your house... if there is 3 wires (if 4, ones a nuetral usually strung below the 3 wires) the voltage is 12,740 volts!

Best watch out you never accidentally contact these wires while putting up an antenna, ladder,(ANYTHING!!! You might never be the same!

29 posted on 04/26/2006 2:10:12 PM PDT by JDoutrider
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To: You Dirty Rats
OK, I'll bite. What's the significance of "Wayne"?

Supposedly, any criminal in Texas has "Wayne" somewhere in his name.

Wayne Wayne Wayne, Jr. was kinda destined to become a serial killer.

30 posted on 04/26/2006 2:11:55 PM PDT by BeHoldAPaleHorse ( ~()):~)>)
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To: aomagrat

I wish someone familiar with that type of work could provide a definitive answer, but where I’ve been remotely associated with electrical things I’ve always been under the impression that the ~0.4kV to 400 kV stuff was some sort of aluminum. ACSR was “aluminum conductor steel reinforced” and I recall seeing a lot of it. Also have seen AAC (all aluminum conductor?) and AAAC-6201(?) which was supposed to be “all aluminum alloy conductor 6200-whatever.”

I could easily be wrong - and it could also be a regional thing, I guess – but I’ve watched them tear down old lines and put up new stuff and they claimed it was all some sort of aluminum or aluminum alloy. That’s how I remember things.


31 posted on 04/26/2006 2:12:04 PM PDT by Who dat?
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To: aomagrat
A Sumter man was severely burned late Sunday night after he reportedly climbed an electrical pole to try and steal copper wire.

The man's lawyers are trying to decide whether to sue Thomas Edison's estate, or Francisco D'Anconia.....

32 posted on 04/26/2006 2:14:10 PM PDT by Onelifetogive (* Sarcasm tag ALWAYS required. For some FReepers, sarcasm can NEVER be obvious enough.)
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To: aomagrat
Nearly a candidate for a Darwin award. Mr. Darwin's observations on natural selection continue unabated. In related news, socialist Europe and democrat party blue states have native populations headed to rapid extinction, due to abortion and low birth rates.


33 posted on 04/26/2006 2:17:50 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember (No program, no ideas, no clue: The democrats!)
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To: aomagrat
Most people are not aware that transformers are not fused. A shot quite a distance away can cause a transformer to explode, nailing a totally innocent passerby.

"Arc flash is the official name; it is brief, intense, lethal and vaporizes metal in the process.

34 posted on 04/26/2006 2:19:10 PM PDT by Publius6961 (Multiculturalism is the white flag of a dying country)
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To: BeHoldAPaleHorse; You Dirty Rats
News of the Weird
35 posted on 04/26/2006 2:19:56 PM PDT by pa_dweller (South of the border - a phrase fast losing its meaning)
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To: You Dirty Rats

http://www.newsoftheweird.com/wayne.html


36 posted on 04/26/2006 2:20:46 PM PDT by Onelifetogive (* Sarcasm tag ALWAYS required. For some FReepers, sarcasm can NEVER be obvious enough.)
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To: aomagrat
Here, hold muh bbbzzzzzzzzzzzttttt!!!!!
37 posted on 04/26/2006 3:04:54 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Carry Daily, Apply Sparingly.)
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To: aomagrat

Patterson said Odom has not been charged in the incident, but his girlfriend, Rebecca E. Greggs, 43, of 1540 N. Main St. was arrested after she reportedly told officers she dropped her boyfriend off on Broad Street and was told to come pick him back up.

She is being held at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing, a jail spokesman said Monday.


I feel like I'm missing something here.


38 posted on 04/26/2006 3:12:59 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: tet68

Patterson said Odom has not been charged in the incident...

I'd say he was very CHARGED


39 posted on 04/26/2006 5:58:47 PM PDT by txroadhawg ("Stuck on stupid? I invented stupid! " Al Gore)
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To: txroadhawg

Patterson said Odom has not been charged in the incident...

I'd say he was very CHARGED

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Not really, he was discharged just as fast as he was charged. The human body makes a poor capacitor.


40 posted on 04/26/2006 8:25:18 PM PDT by RipSawyer
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