[Drizzt]

Albany police hunt for a burned burglar



Albany police are searching for someone who must have received a severe electrical shock and burns Sunday night while apparently trying to cut an electrical line at the former Inland Quick Freeze building on Water Avenue.

Police went to the site between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. Inside the building, they found burned clothes, burned gloves and what appeared to be someone's burned scalp - a piece of skin with hair still attached to it.

Police believe the person was trying to cut through a 440-volt electrical line.

"Our best guess is that they were trying to steal copper wire," Capt. Ben Atchley said. "Copper wire can be resold at salvage yards."

Officers checked the area, using a thermal imaging device from the Albany Fire Department to search hard-to-reach areas of the building. They also looked outside, down to the Willamette riverbank, but couldn't find anyone. Police don't know if the person was a man or a woman.

They checked area hospitals, but no one with severe burns had been treated. They are continuing to search for someone with burns to the head, face, hands and torso.

http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2003/06/02/news/local/news02.prt

[Mark Tyson]

Yikes! He's just asking for it. If he survived, he's probably thinking about a change in career.

[mussi]

Is copper wire worth that much these days?

[jsalcedo]

Copper runs a couple dollars a pound.


It is an easy target for quick cash

[TallPine]

Reminds me of the story of some dummies who were stealing the bricks from an abandoned building to sell for cash ...

but they were knocking the bricks out of the bottom of a wall - finally it collapsed on them.

[Sergeant Bob]

Police went to the site between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. Inside the building, they found burned clothes, burned gloves and what appeared to be someone's burned scalp - a piece of skin with hair still attached to it.

Like a giant bug zapper!

[DrPsycho]

LOL chunk of skin with hair still attached. :D

[444]

:what:

[pax]

What a shocking story.

I really got a charge out of it.

pax

It is hard to be religious when certain people fail to be incinerated by bolts of lightning. – Calvin

[foghornl]

Looks like copper theft is still a big [ahem] cottage industry. Don't know what the price of "scrap copper" is now, but for a while, stealing the grounding radials, transmission line, etc from radio.TV and cel-fone tower sites was really big.

Charleston (SC) County SO finally busted a copper theft group after one guy was caught wandering aimlessly down Hwy 17. Seems he was trying to steal the very large power wires in a no-longer used TV transmitter site. Bad Guy was cutting the wire with a hacksaw, and after he cut into the live 440-Volt line, hit the back of the cabinet with the hacksaw frame. After the blinding flash of light, and the big electric BOOM!, all his partners took off, and left him to wander down the road essentially blind.

There was about 1" of blade in the handle part of the frame, and about 1" in the nose of the frame, rest of the blade was gone, and the nose of the hacksaw frame was in 2 pieces, and a HUGE divot and carbon streak in the power cabinet.

[Edward429451]

There was about 1" of blade in the handle part of the frame, and about 1" in the nose of the frame, rest of the blade was gone

Hacksaw blade= fusible link. Probably saved his life.:D

[jmbg29]

LMAO :p :D