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2008 Slush Pile

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

Shockingly Stupid

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Copper wire thief left with painful reminder

December 03, 2008 Dianne Wood RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER

A Kitchener man suffered neurological damage from being electrocuted while trying to steal copper wire at a former Kitchener factory.

Edward Hatch, 28, has been left with a constant physical reminder of the day last July when he and a friend broke into the B.F. Goodrich plant to steal copper wire.

As soon as Hatch's friend started to cut the wire, there was an explosion. Electricity arced over to Hatch, who was holding a cellphone to his ear. His hand caught fire.

Five months later, Hatch feels the sensation of electricity whenever he lowers his head. He's been diagnosed with L'hermitte's sign, a condition often associated with multiple sclerosis in which a person experiences an electric-shock feeling through their body when they drop their head.

Hatch pleaded guilty yesterday in Kitchener's Ontario Court to breaking and entering the former B.F. Goodrich plant on Goodrich Drive in Kitchener, on July 3.

Court heard he and Joshua Carden climbed to the roof of the plant. They thought the power was turned off because they believed the plant was abandoned.

The plant closed in 2006, but workers are there because it's being renovated. The copper wire supplies almost 14,000 volts of electricity to the former plant.

Hatch suffered second-degree burns to his hand and forearm.

"I just picked up my phone and it went whoosh," he said, describing the exploding firebomb. "My hand was on fire like a candle.''

He's being treated by a neurologist. He described how the condition makes him feel.

"Ever hit your funny bone?'' he asked outside court. "It's like that through your whole body.

"When I put my head down, I get sensations through my entire body, from my feet, all the way up to my head.''

Hatch will be sentenced on Jan. 26.

"It was a dumb thing to do,'' he said in the interview. "I just did it because I needed the money." He said it wasn't for drugs. At Carden's bail hearing last summer, court heard he was stealing the wire to get money for drugs.

In an interview with The Record, he described how sparks exploded in his face and said he was lucky to be alive. He has since disappeared and there's a warrant out for his arrest. He's charged with breaking and entering and mischief endangering life.

This was the second time someone was burned trying to cut through live copper wire at the plant.

In May, James Johnstone, 52, was zapped while cutting into live wire on the roof with a hacksaw. He was sentenced in October to a nine-month conditional sentence.

dwood@therecord.com

Submitted on 12/30/2008

Submitted by: Canuck
Reference: http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/453162

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
Thanks, but idiots stealing copper have become way too common. We get stories like this on pretty much a weekly basis thanks to the lousy economy and the rising value of scrap copper.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: For Darwin's Eyes
What Bruce said. I'll just mark this in case Darwin wants to take a look.


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