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2008 August Slush
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DIY Chainsaw
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man eaten by crocodile
Death by compactor
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Sewage plant fall
.Dis-arm
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Too smart to ba a Carney
Copper thief melted to pole
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A new kind of hurt
Survival of the Luckiest
Man found dead head firstin sewer
Python Kills Intern
Smoking in bedrooms is bad enough
Does Stupid Hurt?
Crocodile eats man who sought its b
Running With Knives
NO:Smarter than a 5th Grader?
Dancing in the roof with energy
Vacuming and gasoline explosive!
Attempted Suicide by Cat
Homemade bazooka
When Stealing, Remember: Safety Fir
Don't eat nachos on a motorcyle
Don't Drill In The Rain
A Night On the Road
Prairie City man injured in Des Moi
The line got him
Hospital Drunks
bottle rockets
Burned On A Utility Pole
Bust a nut
Robber shot to death by victim
Man Refuses smoke detectors - dies
Man Dies After Falling on Butcher K
Youth dies after train roof bet
Aborted Campout
Looking for "pleasure" in a hole
"Bricklayer" legend's an old song
Man trying to steal copper wires ge
Dallas copper thief is done
Orca Avenger
Dallas copper thief is done
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Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
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Burned On A Utility Pole

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Stories about copper and aluminum thieves are becoming quite common place of late. Here in Dallas last month there was one about a thief that was shot by a business owner when the he climbed on the roof to steal tubing from the businesses air conditioning compressor, last week there was one about a Florida man who strapped an entire stolen utility pole to his truck & tried to take it to the recycle center and there are numerious manhole cover theft stories almost weekly. They are becoming so common place I hardly ever notice them anymore. However, when I heard this one on the radio this morning I had to go to their website to make sure I had heard it right.

A man in West Dallas shimmied up a utility pole last night in order to make off with some of the copper wire. During his climb he somehow managed to get himself wedged in between two of the power transformers. Anyone who knows anything about power lines knows that these things get extremely "HOT." They are filled with a heavy oil to act as a cooling agent (it's the oil that causes the fire when one of these things blow).

By the time the police & fire units answered the alarms our hero's clothes had been either burned or blown off by his touching a 7,000 volt line. Although it took some time (his flesh had melted to the transformer) the rescue units were able to free him and take him to the Parkland Hospital burn unit.

He survived his ordeal so an Honorable Mention is the best he can "win" here. However with 3rd degree burns over some 50% of his body maybe "win" isn't exactly the right word to use.

Here's the link to the radio station's news story: http://www.krld.com/Man-Being-Treated-For-Burns-After-Rescued-From-Uti/2709802

Here's a link to a local newspaper site with a lot more details on the incident: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/080208dnmetmanstuck.352a564.html

Submitted on 08/01/2008

Submitted by: David
Reference: http://www.krld.com/Man-Being-Treated-For-Burns-After-Rescued-From-Uti/2709802 1-Aug-2008

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

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Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Another crispy copper criminal for the collection. And frankly, I like this. An excellent write up and _two_ references. Thanks for the great work, David! Please, submit again!


Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Somebody needs to start warning these stupid crooks not to try to steal copper from live power lines. Thanks, David!


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection

Hardback. 240 pages. Autographed.
$15
A fresh collection of magnificent misadventures! Lust, Vanity, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, and Wrath extract an evolutionary toll on the wicked. Salute the owner of an equipment training school who demonstrates the dangers of driving a forklift by failing to survive the filming of his own safety video. Witness the man who becomes a victim of his own strange passion for jumping into rivers. Heed the honest bricklayer who loses a battle of wits with 300 pounds of tools.

This book includes more History of the Awards, Gordon's Law, and 10 discussions of evolution, including speciation and the role of verbal memes in civilization.

Autographed by Author!

 

 

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