Ban guns now.

[Perd Hapley]

Were it not for easy access to guns in our society, this young man might still be alive.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/05/09/w-va-man-electrocuted-after-shooting-down-power-line-to-steal-copper/

[MechAg94]

Advise to copper thieves, disconnect the copper on BOTH ends. 

[TechMan]

Why in the world would you want to mess with power lines, I have no clue.

[K Frame]

I thought most transmission lines these days were aluminum?

And, why isn't his accomplice charged with murder since his friend died in the commission of a felony crime?

[TechMan]

I thought most transmission lines these days were aluminum?

And, why isn't his accomplice charged with murder since his friend died in the commission of a felony crime?

Depends upon location and application, from my understanding.  The high power towers are aluminum, but your lines on the standard electric poles are copper, particularly in snow/ice regions.  YMMV.

[Tallpine]

And, why isn't his accomplice charged with murder since his friend died in the commission of a felony crime?

Police are still conducting their investigation.  There is the potential for more charges.

[makattak]

Depends upon location and application, from my understanding.  The high power towers are aluminum, but your lines on the standard electric poles are copper, particularly in snow/ice regions.  YMMV.

Yep, my dad has made a bit of cash from stolen copper electric wire in Illinois.

(He purchased at auction it after it was used as evidence in a case and, having been cut and slashed, was of no use to the electric company any longer.)

[Perd Hapley]

Police are still conducting their investigation.  There is the potential for more charges.

Ohm eye. Should have guessed this would be a lightning rod for silly puns. Can't say that I'm shocked.

[K Frame]

We had something similar in Pennsylvania years ago, but it didn't result in a death.

Guy was along a powerline trail and decided to shoot some of the insulators.

When he dropped the wire, he set of a fast-moving brush and forest fire (VERY dry that year).

He wasn't able to get back to his truck and it got cooked. He hauled ass out of the area and reported his truck stolen, knowing they'd find it. His story fell apart pretty quickly because he said it was stolen from his home overnight, while a number of people, including the local police officer who took the report, had seen him driving it that morning...   

He ended up doing time and had to pay the power company for the damage and also had to foot the bill for the fire response.

And his insurance company refused to pay off on the truck, so he still had to make payments to the bank. 

[Perd Hapley]

A tangled web, indeed. Seems like he would have gotten the insurance pay-off if he just kept mum about the shooting and told the truth about everything else. Or ditch the rifle somewhere, and report that stolen, too.

[K Frame]

Oh, no, when they found his truck at the fire scene, and the downed powerline, they knew something smelled, because the cop had seen him in the truck that morning, and he claimed that it had been stolen from in front of his home sometime overnight.

When they investigated why the line snapped, it wasn't hard to figure out that it had been shot.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm saying don't bother claiming the truck was stolen. Just say he was there taking a walk, and all of the sudden the woods caught on fire. I guess it would depend on who else was in the area, and whether they saw him with a gun.

[Tallpine]

I'm saying don't bother claiming the truck was stolen. Just say he was there taking a walk, and all of the sudden the woods caught on fire. I guess it would depend on who else was in the area, and whether they saw him with a gun.

If he was that smart then he wouldn't have been shooting at powerlines.

[JonnyB]

Depends upon location and application, from my understanding.  The high power towers are aluminum, but your lines on the standard electric poles are copper, particularly in snow/ice regions.  YMMV.

Dunno 'bout that. Here in Minnesota, the 'local' lines - the last mile of distribution - are aluminum. The only copper is the ground wire on the poles.

They may even have a steel core, for added tensile strength.

jb

[makattak]

If he was that smart then he wouldn't have been shooting at powerlines.

There's a whole lot of criminals that fall into that category... Which reminds me...

[Perd Hapley]

If he was that smart then he wouldn't have been shooting at powerlines.

I thought that went without saying.   

[RoadKingLarry]

Fitting end to a copper thief.


One early morning, about 3:00 am, late last year while I was at work we started getting massive circuit failure aalrms at 2 of the offices I cover. Copper thiefs had taken down a full mile of ariel cable. Well, "cable" sort of, they got a 50 pair copper feeder line and a 500 pair fiber "cable".

[Sergeant Bob]

Darwin wins!

[K Frame]

I'm saying don't bother claiming the truck was stolen. Just say he was there taking a walk, and all of the sudden the woods caught on fire. I guess it would depend on who else was in the area, and whether they saw him with a gun.

I guess he just wasn't as cunning a master criminal as you.

[Doggy Daddy]

Dude just didn't have the capacity to pull off the crime.

[Cliffh]

Copper thieves are quite a problem around here.  

A family was running a drive-through Christmas light display until they couldn't afford to keep replacing the stolen wiring.

A lot of the houses we looked at a few years ago had most of the wiring ripped out.

I would suggest putting news stories like this on the front page as a warning, but you can't fix stupid.....

[BlueStarLizzard]

Copper thieves are quite a problem around here.  

A family was running a drive-through Christmas light display until they couldn't afford to keep replacing the stolen wiring.

A lot of the houses we looked at a few years ago had most of the wiring ripped out.

I would suggest putting news stories like this on the front page as a warning, but you can't fix stupid.....

You might not be able to fix it, but you can fry it.

Darwin should be allowed his due with these types.

[AJ Dual]

I had a co-worker at a nametag-job over a decade ago who was raised on a farm. He used to roam the farm with an air rifle starting at a young age.

The farm had quite a few 220 and 440V lines strung around for various equipment, and with the air rifle, he liked to try to shoot the power lines to hear them "twang" if he was able to hit the tricky narrow target.

When he got a .22LR for his birthday, a few weeks later, he tried the same stunt. Instead of "twang", it went "BEEEEEWWWWW" because it snapped, and the cut LIVE end of the power line went right into the eye of one of their cows in a nearby pen.

The cow was not happy. Nor was my co-worker's father when he had to put down the half-blind cow two farms over.