Darwin Award candidate of the week
A Santa Fe man died at the Arizona Burn Center in
Phoenix after apparently trying to spray-paint graffiti on high-voltage
equipment.
Police said Friday that the Santa Fe man who was burned over 80 percent of his body at a northwest-side electrical substation died at an Arizona hospital. Aaron Vigil, 18, died at the Arizona Burn Center in Phoenix, where he was taken after a Wednesday afternoon incident apparently caused by his trying to spray-paint graffiti on high-voltage equipment.
On Wednesday afternoon, police say, Vigil climbed a high, graffiti-covered concrete wall topped with razor wire to get inside a Public Service Company of New Mexico substation near Buckman Road. Officials say a stream of spray paint might have caused 115,000 volts of electricity to arc into his body, leaving him only partially clothed and badly burned.
The incident caused $20,000 in damage to an electrical transformer, Montaño said Friday. State officials also have blamed the momentary power outage caused by the incident for knocking out computer service to various state agencies, including a statewide crash of the state Motor Vehicle Division’s computer system.
Originally, I was going to comment on his cellphone being robust enough to survive electrocution. Now, it appears his “associates” may have had his phone and made the 911 call.
Posted: Sat - May 19, 2007 at 11:33 AM