Crime & Safety

Coroner: Man Dies from Electrocution While Trying to Steal Copper

The man was found dead Sunday at the state's former mental hospital.

The man who was found dead Sunday at the Department of Mental Health's old hospital property off Bull Street was 39-year-old Anthony Williams of Columbia, according to the Richland County Coroner's Office.

Tourists from North Carolina found Williams hanging by a harness strapped to a frame holding electrical transformers approximately 20 feet in the air, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said. It appears he was attempting to steal copper from the transformers.

Williams, who lived on T.S. Martin Drive in Columbia, died from being electrocuted, Watts said.

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SLED is investigating the incident because it happened on state property.  

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