York, PA - Spring Garden Township Police charged a man Friday with theft after he tried to steal copper wiring from a Met-Ed substation in November, according to a news release.

Dylan Gregory Moore suffered severe burns in his alleged theft attempt at the substation, located at 1700 Mount Rose Ave. His actions also triggered an outage in the area, knocking out power to 3,000 customers for nearly four hours, said Scott Surgeoner, of Reading-based First Energy, the parent company of Met-Ed.

Moore, 27, of Spring Garden Township, was charged with criminal mischief, theft, receiving stolen property and criminal trespass. He was arraigned before District Judge Walter Groom and released on $5,000 unsecured bail. Moore's preliminary hearing before Groom is scheduled for March 30.

Spring Garden Police Chief George Swartz said officers waited until Moore was released from the hospital -- about two weeks ago -- before filing the charges.

Surgeoner said previously that just after 9 p.m. on Nov. 14, Moore gained access to the fenced-in facility and "was removing copper wiring from our equipment. . . . All I can say is that the individual was severely burned," he said.

Surgeoner said it is dangerous for anyone not trained and authorized to enter a Met-Ed facility.

"Anyone who is not properly trained should never go in to a Met-Ed substation, nor should they try to remove any equipment from Met-Ed facilities," he said. "Doing so can and will result in the potential for serious injury and even death."

When asked how the man was able to gain access, Surgeoner said all of the company's substations are enclosed with fences and signs that clearly warn against entering.

"We do intend to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law," he said. All customers had power restored by 12:40 a.m. the next day.

Submitted on 02/24/2011

Submitted by: Richard Prenger
Reference: York Dailey Record 2/24/2011

Copyright © 2011 DarwinAwards.com

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Crispy copper copping crooks for Darwin's collection!

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Will this sort of idiocy never end?

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