...than trying to steal copper from a power line and electrocuting yourself to death... http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-news-thief-killed-stealing-copper-story,0,5298632.story LINDSAY, Okla. -- A suspected thief is shocked to death after an unusual attempted copper theft. Lawmen say 40-year-old Shad Mills was in middle of pulling down a power pole when it snapped and caught fire. We're told he suffered third-degree burns over 85 percent of his body. On an old home site behind a few winter-bit branches is what is left of a snapped power line. You wouldn't think it had any power flowing to it; but it did, and its bite was deadly. Garvin County authorities raced to the scene after a man called 911 and said he needed an ambulance. "You could kind of tell he was shaky, like he was kind of upset," Lindsay Police Department dispatcher Kourtney Fancher. Or in shock. Investigators say Mills called for help after he'd been zapped by more than 14,000 volts of electricity. They believe he was trying to steal copper from the power pole by wrapping a chain around it and then pulling it with his truck. The pole snapped. "In the course of the theft, he came in contact with a line that was still electrified which burned him," Garvin County Sheriff Larry Rhodes said. The grass around the area is still charred. It was about 2 a.m. when Mills made the last call he'd ever make. He told the dispatcher on the other end that there was a grass fire and that he was hurt. "I didn't realize that it was to an extent that they didn't think he'd make it until probably the next day," Fancher said. "I was really surprised when they said he didn't make it." The man lost his life, for what lawmen say, was only about $150 worth of copper. "One thing I hope we can learn from this incident is that there's always this possibility of a loss of life," Rhodes said. This case is still an ongoing investigation.
HAH!!! how ironic, I was just reading that 10 minutes ago from coinflation. You really have to worry about some people these days......
Roll searching for copper today might be an easy route to starvation. The last three boxes I got were, 50 rolls unopened new 2010 D, 44 rolls new unopened 2010 D, 50 rolls mixed with 1-3 copper coins per roll. That box only had 48 copper coins. Now that box of clear tubing wrappers seemed to be full of shiny coins as if they were washed or cleaned prior to rolling. Even the copper was clean. Anyway, searching 2500 cents for a yield of 48 coins with a melt value of about 2 1/2 cents each doesn't pay for the gas it takes to get to the bank. lol Providing you could even sell them for melt gary
A couple of months ago, here in Las Vegas, a couple stopped at a foreclosed house and were stealing copper from it. The wiring was hot and the man was electrocuted and died on the spot. His kids were sitting in his pickup truck and his wife was helping him get the copper. Somehow, this seems more a tragedy than anything to me. I hat a thief, but this economy doesn't need to be squeezed to death by Wall Street. Many of us in this forum are retired or have a little money, so we don't feel the pinch as badly as a young family might. I feel it's unnecessary greed and corruption that has led us here and it makes me physically ill to think about it. gary
I don't know what to think. Thieves have been having families since long before Wall Street was first surveyed; not being able to feed your family, or dying while trying to feed them, has always been a tragedy. So has making poor life decisions; so has having bad luck. Stealing possibly-live wiring is pretty stupid, but so is making (or using) meth. So, in my opinion, is speculating in derivatives -- it's just that you don't get physically burned, and you're less likely to have direct contact with your victims.
