Aaron Cottrell, 32, was discovered dead at 7:12 a.m. in Dunbar, 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, the police said in a release.
The power had to be shut off to de-electrify and remove the wire on Mr. Cottrell’s body, according to Pittsburgh’s WPXI.
The state troopers said they found a backpack and pole saw on Mr. Cottrell’s person and that “it appeared he had been attempting to obtain wire from active electrical lines when he was electrocuted.”
The incident took place near Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church. Church elder Sherry Scully told WPXI that “to think that somebody was that desperate. … I asked the power people what he would have gotten for the copper wire at a junkyard or whatever, and they said he only would have gotten $100. He lost his life over $100.”
Mr. Cottrell “was not on property in an employment capacity by the church or any commercial business,” the Fayette County Coroner’s Office said.
While the Pennsylvania State Police identified Mr. Cottrell as a resident of New Salem, 100 miles west of Philadelphia and 200 miles east of Dunbar, the Fayette County Coroner’s Office said he hailed from Scottdale, 10 miles north of Dunbar.
West Penn Power, which operates the electrical lines involved in the incident, said in a statement that “electrical equipment and power lines are extremely dangerous and should never be approached, touched or tampered with under any circumstances,” according to Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, police said.
