EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A teenager was electrically shocked after climbing up an electric pole near an East El Paso skate park on Thursday.
According to University Medical Center, the teen was transferred to the burn center in Lubbock for treatment of his injuries.
The incident happened near Dick Shinaut Park on Rufus Brijalba Drive.
Video obtained by KTSM, that will not be shared due to its graphic nature and the fact that it involves a minor, shows what happened.
In the video, the teen can be seen sitting on top of the electric pole. Someone on the ground throws something and then an explosion occurs and the teen falls from the pole.
A witness who was at the skate park when everything happened says someone threw a rock and when the teen on the pole tried to catch it he touched the wire. The witness told KTSM that this wasn’t the first time the teen had climbed the electric pole.
“Almost every time I see him, he climbs up there and everyone is like ‘Oh touch it’ and he’s like ‘No, I’m not touching that,'” said Kristian Gillham who was at the skate park.
The skate park and the electric pole are right next to some homes. A person who lives there said she lost power when the incident happened.
“It’s bothersome actually because the park was created for kids to come and enjoy themselves and meet new people but not for it to escalate to this point,” said Annabel Arispe who lives next to the park.
El Paso Electric warns the community about the dangers of electric poles and lines and asks the public to report anything of concern.
“Any portion of an electrical system can be dangerous. Every single part of what we do has some sort of level of danger to it. So we ask that the public to stay away from anything, down lines vehicle incidents, something that just doesn’t look normal. Call us. We’ll send professional help out there to determine if everything is normal or it’s not,” said Anthony Ramos, a line crew supervisor with El Paso Electric.
Ramos took KTSM to an area where El Paso Electric line men were working on power lines on Friday. He showed how much safety gear the crews must wear before working on an electrical pole in order to stay safe.
