Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
Honorable Mentions
Urban Legends
Personal Accounts
Slush Pile
2008 August Slush
HM:Bench Press
HM:A Clear Lesson
?:Firebomb Failure
man eaten by crocodile
DIY Chainsaw
Dis-arm
Death by compactor
HM:Riders on the Storm
TS Fay Slams Kite Surfer
Too smart to ba a Carney
Copper thief melted to pole
Does Stupid Hurt?
Self-bris near-miss
The Hurricane Between The Ears
Sewage plant fall
Survival of the Luckiest
Man found dead head firstin sewer
Python Kills Intern
A new kind of hurt
Smoking in bedrooms is bad enough
Attempted Suicide by Cat
Crocodile eats man who sought its b
Running With Knives
Dancing in the roof with energy
Vacuming and gasoline explosive!
NO:Smarter than a 5th Grader?
bottle rockets
Homemade bazooka
Don't eat nachos on a motorcyle
Don't Drill In The Rain
When Stealing, Remember: Safety Fir
Hospital Drunks
Prairie City man injured in Des Moi
The line got him
A Night On the Road
Burned On A Utility Pole
Robber shot to death by victim
Man Dies After Falling on Butcher K
Man Refuses smoke detectors - dies
Youth dies after train roof bet
Bust a nut
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
Older Slush 
 
~ Random Story ~
Newsletter
Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Copper thief melted to pole

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

James Buster McKay, 51, died at about 11 p.m. Saturday at Parkland Memorial Hospital, the Dallas County medical examiner's office confirmed today. He had been listed in critical condition. A Dallas Fire-Rescue official said Mr. McKay had suffered third-degree burns and was burned on about 50 percent of his body.

Dallas police said they were notified about 4:30 a.m. Friday that a man was stuck on a utility pole in the 800 block of Regal Row near the Irving border. Police said Oncor was also notified about an outage in the area and at 5:17 a.m. restored power. The man may have grabbed a wire when power was being restored, Dallas police said.

When crews arrived, they found cut wires on the ground and Mr. McKay stuck between transformers on the pole, police said.

Dallas Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Sherrie Lopez said the man had been hit with about 7,000 volts, possibly twice. The rescue was hindered because his flesh had adhered to the metal components on the pole. Much of his clothing had either "burned off or blown off," she said.

Crews reached Mr. McKay using a ladder from a fire truck and he was lowered shortly before 7 a.m. and taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Police said the incident caused more than $10,000 in damage. Oncor said investigators found about $50 worth of copper on the ground.

Submitted on 08/04/2008

Submitted by: Shane
Reference: 11:03 AM CDT on Monday, August 4, 2008 By EMILY TSAO / The Dallas Morning News

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
Love it! Hate it!
>> Moderator Scores <<

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
More information on this copper copping criminal. Thanks, Shane!


Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes


$16 Smoking Crater T-Shirt / Black
Heavy 100% cotton, black Hanes Beefy-T with an inadvisable cigarette break on the front... a smoking crater on the back! Click on the image for a full view. Based on true stories. Errata: TNT will not explode in the presence of a lit cigarette. The man was actually sitting on a crate of gelignite.
Buy the Smoking Crater T-Shirt

 

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects


Advanced Search

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend