Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
Honorable Mentions
Urban Legends
Personal Accounts
Slush Pile
2006 January Rejects
Cheers! Compo Celebrations
Motorcycle messenger killed by
Indiana Jones He Is Not
Homade Tattoo
Student Catapult Death
Orem Man Reports Marijuana Sto
Escaped Prisoner Killed in Tra
Failed excape
student holds breath too long
Prisoner Dead After Apparent E
Freak explosion kills policema
Three stories in one
Don't Drive with Gang Members
Trespassing at elevators ends
Snow Camper
Snowboarder Killed by Snowblow
High Dive
The Ghost
Jetpack
Death by snowplow
Cured his hiccups
Handstand leads to fatal fall
This gun won't fire!!
Uncle shot his nephew to death
Client needed op after prostit
Cop shoots himself in the head
Elmer Fudge
Riddle Me This
Death by a Salesman
Hiccup scares2 people to death
3L33T Self-Selection
Man dies while mimicki
Hiccups lead to two deaths
Hiccups lead to two deaths
Business Cards
Dangerous Hickups
Hiccups lead to two deaths
Hiccup Scare Attempt Leads to
Hic Hic BOOM.
Bathtime fright
Dangers of Darwin
Crack Dealer Uses Business Car
corsican suicide bomber
Hiccup Test Backfires
The ultimate cure for hiccups
Suicide Failer
killed by a hiccup cure
Killer Hiccups
Hiccups Lead to Two Deaths
Hiccups Lead to Two Deaths
scared lifeless
Hiccups lead to two deaths
Hiccup Scare Attempt Leads to
Hiccups lead to two deaths
Home Remedys Always Work Best
Man Tries To Scare Hiccups Out
Tossed matches ignited fatal f
Manshootsnephew,cureshiccup
Man Scaring Hiccups Kills Self
Killed by the hiccups
match flicker
Hiccups lead to two deaths
Man Tries To Scare Hiccups Out
Hiccups Lead to Two Deaths
Hiccups lead to two deaths
Hiccups lead to two deaths
NO! Not a Gun!
Scared Ya, Didn't I?
Man Tries To Scare Hiccups Out
Hiccups lead to two deaths
Hiccup Test Backfires
Hiccups Lead to Two Deaths
"The Darwin Awards" The movie!
Ski instructor's warning backf
DUI arrest made after crash on
Scary hiccup cure's a killer
Killer Hiccup Cure
All lit up
Death by Matches
Woman Dies in Fire
Woman dies waking boyfriend
Tossed matches ignited fire
Police say woman died in fire
Lit, Lit up, then Fired Up!
Couch Blaster
If you can't see don't leap
If you can't see don't leap
Burglar dies in fire he set to
Boy gets stuck by his tongue
Fun With Propane Tanks
Cruising on the ice
Man leaps from speeding car in
Burglar dies in fire he set to
Blowing on Turpintine
Frog Giggin'
Decapated By Croc
Bumper Car
Love (Frost)Bites
Smoking on High
Jumping robbery suspect
Scrapheap Suicide Challenge
Flee to the Tree
Homemade Explosives
Wheelie popper
Cause of death of man, 22, fou
Cussed to Death
Welsh man removes own scrotum
Drunk Driving To Precision
magnets arent food Jr.
Healthy Diet
PIcky Eater
Northern Territory Attempt
On the road, Sleeping drunk, o
Swing from Construction Crane
smart kid
19th Century Gunsmith Blunders
Breakfast of Champions
man kills self with bad diet
Boys dies from junk food diet
Eat chips and toast and die
Junk food death
Parrott is a Polly Spiller
Killed by chips and toast
Texas Plane Mechanic Sucked In
Airport Death
Engineer in engine
Jet sucks up mechanic
Shock
man falls to death
Look, Bubba, no hands
Darwin gets his man
Fun with rightguard
Man blows out brains
American with Disabilities Act
Unlucky second time around
NH Man Falls From Escalator
Esca-Jumper
Inmate dies trying to escape
Hit the Mailbox Head on
One Dummy to another
One Dummy to another
Fall from Allegheny County Jai
Man, 23, first '06 death on Le
Kiss of Potential Death
don't punch windows
Death by Horse sex
Jail Inmate Killed in Fall
Escalator Fall
SoCal nursing home patient wit
Smoker burns to death
Smoker on Oxygen Self-Ignites
Death of a spider
Stampede Me, Please
A Darwin magnet called Mecca.
345 Trip Over Luggage,Trampled
stupid mob
345 Die in stampede
Spider dead, leg broken
Teen breaks leg killing spider
Man breaks leg while kicking s
Fire Starter
Fires Spread To Colorado And A
What you doin' in my house?
Mousetrap x 2
Poetic Revenge
Blazing Mouse
"Almost Shafted"
A great time for a burglary
Intoxicated man killed after
3 doors down
Blazing mouse sets fire...
Rodent's Revenge
T in Boston
Beer caves
Baby boos
Good bye armie
panty hose
ThongS PARKLING fanny
Dumb man communicashin
Feer of densits
Low Bridge Everybody Down Low
Wedding Wage
Poopy no 80
Burning Mouse Ignites Blaze Th
Most Embarrassing First Date
Some Historical Darwins
Thief Relief
Thief Relief
Thief Relief
Thief Relief
Thief Relief
Thief Relief
My sister is a dumb old elepin
Arf Arf Give Me Alfalfa
Kiss Of Death
Licking Elbows
Too Polite
Suicide? Maybe!
Fiery end to a feud
17-Jähriger schnüffelt Deo-Spr
Downey Man Dies After Trying t
Calif. Man Dies After Setting
Man Critically Injured After J
"Mouse Fire"
Mouse revenge
Got NoS?
Man burns mouse burns house
A hermits life and death
Woman smothered in her clutter
Ragin Rodent
Infant Parking
Walking on thin ice?
Hospital light up
Limo Carjacking Backfires
Robber's escape thwarted
near miss with lions
Man perishes in trailer fire
Entering the New Year in Style
Doesn't pay to be stupid
Thieves steal another radioact
Elephant Gores tourist
Lions maul teenager
Cigarette shop robbery failure
Suspect dies after swallowing
Thieves steal another radioact
Artist binds feet in desert, l
Artist binds feet in desert, l
Artist binds feet in desert, l
Man Shoots Finger Off
Playing with things
Man lights fire in gas theft
guns and using the bathroom
smoke, smoke, smoke
Animal Follies
Chicken Fries Man, Remains at
CORRECTION
Chicken Fries Man
RCMP warn of the dangers of gu
Horse sex
Fire Starter
Ohio Man Dies When Pulled Into
electrocuted trying to steal
Teen to return to classes afte
You choose
Enumclaw-area animal-sex case
Fireworks and Petrol.....
Fly Fag Death Probe
One Explosive mouthfull
Explosive New Year
Candle Power
Loaded!
Man's car goes on automatic pi
"Grizzly Man" or Dumbass?
Bottles of death
Stupid Kid
Pouring Gas on a lit Bonfire
Woman killed savage hubbie
starting a car badly
Jump start idiot
Police search frigid Quebec r
Fireworks, mouth, oh no!
The Tree Missed But He Didn't
Slush Pile Rejects 
 
~ Randomizer ~
Newsletter
Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

electrocuted trying to steal

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

check it at - http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/12/24/20051224wacelectrocution.html

A man was electrocuted by 69,000 volts of electricity after he tried to steal copper wire from an electrical substation near Bellmead on Friday.

The man, who police have yet to identify, was cutting the copper wire off functional transformers at the substation behind the old General Tire plant on U.S. Highway 77, about a half mile north of Orchard Lane shortly after noon when he was hit by the surge, according to Steve Anderson of the Waco Police Department.

The Waco Fire Department was called at 12:28 p.m. to put out a small grass fire at the location, presumably ignited by the electrical surge, and found the man's body near the transformer, Anderson said.

The amount of electricity pumped through the man was so powerful that it blew the man out of one of his shoes and threw him several feet from the transformer, Anderson said.

Anderson said that he was told by a TXU employee at the scene that the man “never even knew what hit him” and was killed instantly. That was confirmed by TXU district manager Tony Flores, who said that the power lines that run in front of people's houses – carrying either 7,200 or 14,000 volts – are more than potent enough to be lethal.

“It's like a blast of fire going through you, essentially,” Flores said.

Anderson said he was amazed at the man's disregard of posted warning signs.

“If you're going to be stupid, you'd better be tough,” he said.

Flores said the substation belongs to the owner of the General Tire plant, which has been closed since the mid-1980s, and not to TXU.

The man was apparently stealing strips of copper wire from the facility, Anderson said, as investigators found about a dozen strips of the copper wire and wire cutters near the man's body. Copper theft has become more and more common lately as copper prices have seen a marked increase of late.

“I don't know what (the amount of copper the man had) is worth,” Anderson said. “I know it's not worth his life.”

twoods@wacotrib.com

Submitted on 01/03/2006

Submitted by: Ehud Karni
Reference: www.wacotrib.com 24 Dec 2005

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
We already have this one several times over, along with numerous other tales of copper-thief electrocution from (literally) the four corners of the earth. Unless a particular incident stands out (which this one doesn't), we consider the electrocution of would-be wire thieves too common for award consideration...


Greg said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

The Darwin Awards Condom

Keep yourself out of the gene pool!
A condom in a matchbook, useful for emergency contraception, bachelor parties, frat parties, and important rites of passage. LOADED inside and out with funny quotes and stories. Everyone loves this item!
Friends don't let friends reproduce!
$13 for Pack of 4

 

 

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects


Advanced Search

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend

>> The Darwin Awards, by Wendy Northcutt <<
Link to Fight Evil.