Electrocution

Charles Casey, a former pastor who used to live in Maryland, is suing Best Buy and its Geek Squad computer repair service for allegedly making negligent repairs on his computer, which caused it to shock him severely as soon as he plugged his printer into it, according to a federal lawsuit filed yesterday in Maryland. Casey, who lived in Cockeysville, Md., but now lives in Florida with his wife, said in the lawsuit that as soon as he plugged it in, he suffered "a severe electric shock that ran through his body, with tingling in his right hand up to his shoulder, across his tongue and down his left arm. " Casey had presented his computer for repair in early September 2007 to the Geek Squad at the Best Buy in the 1700 block of York Road in Timonium, the lawsuit states.

The city of Baltimore on Wednesday approved a $200,000 settlement with the family of a 14-year-old Randallstown girl, Deanna Green, who was electrocuted in 2006 while stretching during a church softball game in Druid Hill Park. "As a mother, it was a terrible tragedy," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said. "I can't even imagine the pain that Deanna's family and her parents have gone through. The city has done a lot since 2006, when this incident happened, to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again.

Four years after a 14-year-old girl was electrocuted at Druid Hill Park while playing softball, a Baltimore judge will decide Friday whether to dismiss a civil case against an electrical firm the city hired for nearby repair work. Del Electric worked near Druid Hill Park's lower bowl softball fields at least six times in the three years before Deanna Green's death, including two months before the accident, according to court papers. Deanna's parents, Anthony and Nancy Green, sued Del Electric for damages.

A man was killed after being electrocuted at a construction site in Howard County on Tuesday afternoon, according to the county's Department of Fire and Rescue Services. Police were called to the site where a new home is being built in the 9200 block of Furrow Avenue in Ellicott City shortly before 3:30 p.m. for reports of an electrocution, officials said. An investigation determined the man, whose identity was being withheld pending the notification of his family, was a worker at the site who was carrying metal scaffolding when it touched an electrical wire, officials said.

A Crofton substation operator was accidentally electrocuted Friday evening while working on a transformer in Bethesda, Montgomery County police said.Leonard Russell Ainsworth, 40, of Cambridge Drive died after he came into contact with a high-voltage conductor atop the transformer at a Potomac Electric Power Co. substation in the 4900 block of Del Ray Avenue near Old Georgetown Road.An employee of Pepco for four years, Mr. Ainsworth was preparing the transformer to be returned to service after it was decommissioned for a paint job, a company spokeswoman said yesterday.

City officials said they were still trying to determine yesterday how a metal fence next to a Druid Hill Park softball field became electrified, killing a 14-year-old girl Friday night. Field No. 8, where the incident occurred, has been closed and all night games at Druid Hill are being moved to other sites until further notice, said Kia McLeod, a spokeswoman for Baltimore's Department of Recreation and Parks. The victim, Deanna Green of Randallstown, was waiting for her turn at bat about 8 p.m. Friday when she put her foot on a metal fence running along the field, witnesses said.

State utility regulators weighed concerns about balancing safety and cost Thursday, as they considered rules to minimize the risk of accidental electrocution when objects such as streetlights become electrified. The "Deanna Camille Green Regulations" were proposed by parents of the 14-year-old Randallstown girl who was fatally electrocuted when she touched two fences at a Druid Hill Park softball field in 2006. The fences were in contact with an underground wire, and Anthony and Nancy Green want to prevent similar tragedies.

Underground electrical cables at a ball field at Baltimore's Druid Hill Park will be replaced as part of a "corrective action plan" issued by city parks and recreation officials as a result of the May electrocution of a 14-year-old Randallstown girl. The plan - which also calls for the inspection and possible replacement of cables at lighted ball fields at Patterson, Latrobe and Riverside parks - was completed earlier this month and shared with The Sun after the newspaper filed a formal request for information under the state's Public Information Act. Inspections and repairs at all four parks are expected to be completed within a year, said Connie A. Brown, director of the city parks system.

Two ospreys can sleep safely tonight in the same home the built on an electric pole near Essex last spring, no longer in danger of electrocution.Workers from the Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. moved the birds' four-foot-long, oval nest yesterday from its original spot on top of a 7,600 volt wire to a platform four feet higher on the pole.The pole is located on the 2600 block of Holly Neck Road in eastern Baltimore County.The ospreys, members of an endangered species, were not in the nest when workers carefully removed the crossarm of the pole that their nest lay upon.

THE STATE of Florida is getting squeamish about electrocuting murderers. Last month, the Florida Supreme Court released an opinion complete with color photos of the executed body of Allen Lee "Tiny" Davis, his blood-soaked shirt and contorted purple face downloaded to any curious citizen via the court's Web site.During oral arguments on the case, Provenzano vs. Moore, Justice Harry Lee Anstead asked an attorney for the state: "Can you hold that picture up to the people of the state of Florida and say this is what we want to do when we are taking a person's life as a result of a heinous crime?"

During an emotional hearing Friday, the Maryland Public Service Commission adopted new regulations intended to prevent accidental electrocutions like the one that killed 14-year-old Deanna Green at a church softball game in Druid Hill Park more than five years ago. The requirements will force state electric companies to find — and eliminate — dangerous "contact voltage" in public objects that can transmit electricity, such as streetlights, traffic...

State utility regulators weighed concerns about balancing safety and cost Thursday, as they considered rules to minimize the risk of accidental electrocution when objects such as streetlights become electrified. The "Deanna Camille Green Regulations" were proposed by parents of the 14-year-old Randallstown girl who was fatally electrocuted when she touched two fences at a Druid Hill Park softball field in 2006. The fences were in contact with an underground wire, and Anthony and Nancy Green want to prevent similar tragedies.

The family of a 14-year-old girl who was electrocuted on a Druid Hill Park softball field in 2006 has settled a lawsuit with a private contractor, but is seeking to revive litigation against the city that a judge had previously dismissed. An attorney for Douglas Electric and Lighting confirmed the settlement but said the amount was confidential. The lawyer for the company, Thomas V. McCarron, said executives decided to negotiate after a judge granted the city immunity but allowed the family to pursue the electrical company in court.

Charles Casey, a former pastor who used to live in Maryland, is suing Best Buy and its Geek Squad computer repair service for allegedly making negligent repairs on his computer, which caused it to shock him severely as soon as he plugged his printer into it, according to a federal lawsuit filed yesterday in Maryland. Casey, who lived in Cockeysville, Md., but now lives in Florida with his wife, said in the lawsuit that as soon as he plugged it in, he suffered "a severe electric shock that ran through his body, with tingling in his right hand up to his shoulder, across his tongue and down his left arm. " Casey had presented his computer for repair in early September 2007 to the Geek Squad at the Best Buy in the 1700 block of York Road in Timonium, the lawsuit states.

The 63-year-old Annapolis man killed on his jet ski during Sunday's severe thunderstorm was electrocuted by a nearby lightning strike, police said Wednesday. Maryland Natural Resources Police released the preliminary cause of death for Warren Douglas Smith, and said a final autopsy is scheduled for next month. The accident occurred about half mile south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge during the storm. Police said Smith, who was riding a jet ski prior to the accident, was caught in the storm.

Relatives of a 14-year-old girl who was electrocuted on a Druid Hill Park softball field said they plan to pursue further legal action against the city after a Baltimore Circuit Court judge dismissed some parts of a civil suit they filed against an electrical contractor in the incident. But Judge Shirley M. Watts denied a defense motion to dismiss other parts of the lawsuit, including negligence, that might go to a jury trial, while requesting more briefs. Deanna Green had been stretching before a church softball game in May 2006 when she touched two fences, one of which was touching an underground cable, according to authorities.

Do you ever test your ground fault interrupters? I asked my wife that question and she said, in a mystified tone, that she didn't know she could. Properly called "ground fault circuit interrupters" or GFCIs, these electrical devices are most familiar as the outlets with two rectangular buttons in the middle, often seen in bathrooms and garages. Look closely at the face of a GFCI outlet, and you'll see the words "Test Monthly." These devices have been installed in new houses for more than 25 years, yet most homebuyers seem surprised when I mention the need to test them.

Pimlico Race Course does not appear to be a safe place to work, according to a state regulatory agency.The Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Agency, a division of the state Department of Licensing and Regulation, has cited the Maryland Jockey Club, alleging 27 work-related violations. The agency also has proposed levying $30,150 in penalties on the track.tTC The MOSHA investigation was begun after the electrocution of the horse, Fox Brush, and injury to his exercise rider, Clayton Beck, during a morning training accident at the track's auxiliary starting gate April 1.About a third of the proposed fines, or $10,150, are related to functions at the "Practice Starting Gate Area" or the "Starting Gate at Rogers Avenue."

Four years after a 14-year-old girl was electrocuted at Druid Hill Park while playing softball, a Baltimore judge will decide Friday whether to dismiss a civil case against an electrical firm the city hired for nearby repair work. Del Electric worked near Druid Hill Park's lower bowl softball fields at least six times in the three years before Deanna Green's death, including two months before the accident, according to court papers. Deanna's parents, Anthony and Nancy Green, sued Del Electric for damages.