Justice Served

[father of 4]

DALLAS — A man who climbed to the top of a utility pole Friday in an alleged effort to steal copper had to be rescued after he was jolted by a high-voltage wire and burned over 50 percent of his body, officials said.

Live TV coverage of the 1 1/2-hour rescue showed 51-year-old James Buster McKay's shirt in tatters, his jeans mostly burned away from his body. His skin looked red and he appeared to be in extreme pain as rescue personnel eased him down a fire truck's extended ladder.

"The suspect was on the transformer and grabbed one of the live wires," said Dallas Police Senior Cpl. Gerry Monreal, who noted police arrived to find several electric wires had been cut and were on the ground.

McKay was taken to the hospital, where he was under arrest on a felony charge of criminal mischief, Monreal said. The third-degree felony is punishable by 2-10 years in prison, and up to a $10,000 fine.

McKay was in critical condition Friday afternoon at Parkland Memorial Hospital, said spokeswoman Charise Thomason. Dallas Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Sherrie Lopez said he had third-degree burns on about half of his body.

Oncor Electric Delivery spokeswoman Carol Peters said the voltage on the pole was about 7,000 volts.

"Whatever he was doing on top of the pole caused a power outage for a few minutes," Peters said.

Power was turned off to the pole during the rescue, and then restored to the neighborhood, Peters said. The height of a standard utility pole is about 40 feet, she said.

Police Sgt. Richard Santiesteban said the man apparently was trying to steal copper wire.

Rescue crews just before 7 a.m. Friday removed the injured man from the pole, where he was wedged between two transformers.

Copper thefts have increased across the nation as the salvage price for the metal has gone up dramatically in recent years. Thieves typically target electric cable, pipes, gutters and salvage yards.

[Bob # 1]

Guess he did not know that copper is conductor of electricty, bets he knows now.

[fishingpox]

Justice served, I don't know. nothing is more painful to one than being burned. You should know that. Did he suffer from being a dumb butt, yep. Then we should 3rd degree felony criminal mischief punishable by burning of 50% of your body. Justice served, I don't think so...

[Jim Manz]

We had a guy in Savannah recently do the same thing. They found his body at the base of the pole.

[wrwest]

Hey if that were in Cali, he would sue the Power Co. and would win. No warning signs, No barrier around the power pole to stop people from climbing to pole. To much of a temptation for him to resist.

We have had the samething happening here too. We even had a couple of guys steel some deep frier oil from a restaurant and tried to sell it at a recyle yard. I never new there was a market for old frier grease.

[CrappieLips]

Recon how that's workin for him now

[Slipped Cork]

I bet he wont even climb a tree now!

[Crappie Reaper]

My guess is some crackhead or Meth freak. Shame folks lose themselves to a point they commit acts of Darwinism. I don't think it's much justice that the guy turned himself into toast, yet there is that thought of complete and total stupidity on his part. I commend people like him who do their best to weed their seed from the gene pool of Humanity.

[fishingpox]

hehehehe....

Originally Posted by Crappie Reaper

My guess is some crackhead or Meth freak. Shame folks lose themselves to a point they commit acts of Darwinism. I don't think it's much justice that the guy turned himself into toast, yet there is that thought of complete and total stupidity on his part. I commend people like him who do their best to weed their seed from the gene pool of Humanity.

[reelcrappie]

What a complete idiot. I don't know about justice but he got what he deserved and has no one to blame but himself. I have to agree with you Reaper. Hard to come up with much sympahy for anyone that stupid and dishonest.