By Harriet McLeod
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - A man allegedly trying to steal copper from a South Carolina power substation was shocked by 7,200 volts of electricity, burning him and cutting power to more than 3,000 homes, police said on Wednesday.
Phillip David Tinskey, 25, was being treated in an Augusta, Georgia burn center for the second and third-degree burns he suffered during the incident on Tuesday.
Sheriff's deputies responded to the substation on Tuesday after reports of power outages in Ladson, about 15 miles from coastal Charleston. They found a cut ground wire, a scorch mark on a transformer and a green duffel bag containing bolt cutters and copper wire.
A South Carolina identification card found near the duffel bag had Tinskey's name and address on it. Police went to his house and found him "very seriously injured," said sheriff's spokesman Dan Moon.
"People have done this before, but it is extremely dangerous," Moon said.
No charges have been filed. "If he makes it, there will be charges down the road," Moon said. "He was in pretty serious shape, so we're just waiting to see how he does."
Copper wire retails for about $4 a pound, Moon said.
"They can take it to a scrap metal dealer and get about half that. For the time and effort, there's not a lot of money involved," he said.
A new state law that goes into effect this month will require permits to transport and sell copper to scrap metal dealers and will include penalties of up to $1,000 in fines and three years jail time for copper theft.
About 3,400 homes lost power for about an hour as a result of the incident, said Eddie McKnight, spokesman for Berkeley Electric Cooperative. "Substation theft of copper is a national problem," he said.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Greg McCune)
