Tip to copper wire thieves: Not the live ones

[Bob Juch]

A thief in Germany was charred beyond recognition by a 10,000-volt electric shock when he tried to steal a live copper cable, authorities said Monday.

Police in the western city of Duisburg found the 32-year-old man's blackened remains by a set of cable cutters and a pile of cables he had already stolen.

Only because one of his hands survived incineration were officers able to identify the man as a German of Kazakh origin.

"His fingerprints were already logged on police files," a local police spokesman said. "The force of the shock was so great that the hand was severed from his body."

[earendel]

A thief in Germany was charred beyond recognition by a 10,000-volt electric shock when he tried to steal a live copper cable, authorities said Monday.

Police in the western city of Duisburg found the 32-year-old man's blackened remains by a set of cable cutters and a pile of cables he had already stolen.

Only because one of his hands survived incineration were officers able to identify the man as a German of Kazakh origin.

"His fingerprints were already logged on police files," a local police spokesman said. "The force of the shock was so great that the hand was severed from his body."

When we were in Macedonia, our group was told that this was a common occurrence - what's worse, it was usually a child who died because the fathers would send them in first.

[christie1111]

Not the live wires part but people stealing the copper from light poles.

[tanstaafl2]

A thief in Germany was charred beyond recognition by a 10,000-volt electric shock when he tried to steal a live copper cable, authorities said Monday.

Police in the western city of Duisburg found the 32-year-old man's blackened remains by a set of cable cutters and a pile of cables he had already stolen.

Only because one of his hands survived incineration were officers able to identify the man as a German of Kazakh origin.

"His fingerprints were already logged on police files," a local police spokesman said. "The force of the shock was so great that the hand was severed from his body."

When we were in Macedonia, our group was told that this was a common occurrence - what's worse, it was usually a child who died because the fathers would send them in first.

People using their kids to check wires deserve to have death by live copper wire be their fate anyway. And if the thieves are doing it themselves then by all means let them continue. A good way to thin the ranks of the thieves.