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2008 October Slush
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Attempted Copper Theft injures susp
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Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

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Attempted Copper Theft injures susp

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Deputies: Attempted Copper Theft Severely Injures Suspect Saturday, October 25, 2008 – updated: 7:30 pm EDT October 25, 2008

OHIO COUNTY, W.Va. -- One man's attempt to steal copper wire didn't get him any of the high-priced metal, but it did get him a trip to the hospital, according to Ohio County deputies.

"It's just beyond my imagination why people would continue to do this," said Chief Deputy Pat Butler.

American Electric Power representatives said the company was notified of an outage in the Valley Grove area of the county late Friday night.

Bill Orum was one of those people left without power, but he didn't know why it happened.

"Fire trucks went through, went up the road and came back, and they left later on and I seen a power truck out front," he said.

Butler said a bolt cutter and a burned hat were found on a hillside behind several homes-- signs that someone tried to steal copper, but instead was badly hurt.

"Clearview’s Fire Department was also called out with thermal imaging. Subsequent search by our deputies and both [Clearview and Valley Grove] fire departments yielded nothing," he said.

Then Saturday morning, Butler said 41-year-old David Walker, of Valley Grove, showed up at a Wheeling-area hospital with burns so bad, he had to be taken to Pittsburgh for medical treatment.

AEP said there's a potential of 7,200 volts running through the equipment, which is enough to kill someone.

"This is just a case where it's not worth it," Butler said.

"Crazy. You just don't mess with that stuff," Orum said.

Butler said Walker will be charged in connection to the incident.

Submitted on 10/25/2008

Submitted by: Rob Bissell
Reference: 10/25/08 WTOV News

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

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Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Yet another in the never ending line of dumb cropper thief wannabe's. Thanks, Rob.


Candi said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Cooked copper crook for Darwin's collection. Thanks, Rob!


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