Slush Pile: Man Electrocuted

2007 Slush Pile

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Man Electrocuted

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

FIFE - A thief went after a precious metal and paid for it with his life. It was copper electrical wire in a live high voltage power line.

Fife police say two men came out in the dead of night armed with a rope. They thought they would just toss the line over the wire and pull it down.

But before that could happen electricity came down the rope, electrocuted one and burned the other. A staggering 55,000 volts came down the rope passed through their hands into their bodies and out their feet.

Julian LaPointe, 22, of Tacoma was killed.

The sparks caught the grass on fire. Investigators from Puget Sound Energy were on the scene much of Friday trying to piece together what happen.

It is not the first time thieves have targeted live power lines, but there's a reason it doesn't happen very often.

"It's not highly valuable," said Det. Jeff Nolta with the Fife Police Department. "If you get enough of it you get a few dollars, but certainly not enough to risk your life with lines that you don't know if they're live or dead."

Electrician Joshua Vasquez explained, "This is what they want. They go by weight so the more they collect and they figure they can get those power lines and maybe it might be more."

Vasquez said thieves often target new home construction ripping the wires right out of the walls hoping to get up to $1.50 a pound. But he can't believe someone would risk taking on a live power line.

"You've got to respect electricity. A lot of people don't and they think they can just do whatever, but you have to respect it." KOMO 4 News told him, "One man paid for it with his life." "That's sad," he responded.

Investigators believe the pair may have mistaken this high voltage line for the lower voltage line across the train tracks or an abandoned power line further down the tracks.

It was a costly mistake just for a little bit of copper.

The second man injured is at Harborview Medical Center with burns on his hands and a foot, but he is expected to recover.

Submitted on 09/01/2007

Submitted by: Peter
Reference: http://www.komotv.com/news/archive/4163491.html

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
Thanks, Peter. This actually happened a while ago and we received it back then. For the record, electrocution resulting from botched power line theft is THE single most common type of incident we get here at DA! We DO appreciate the submission, however!

Chip said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
As James said, this is a repeat and is also way too common these days. We do thank you for sending it our way, Peter

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2007 Slush Pile

Man Electrocuted

2007 Reader Submission Pending Acceptance

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance