Police ID man electrocuted in Gustavus

GUSTAVUS - Trumbull County sheriff's detectives said they used identifying marks on the body of an electrocuted man to identity him after he was burned nearly beyond recognition in an apparent attempted copper theft.

About 2,000 customers lost power when he sawed through an electrical connection at a substation early Monday at the intersection of Gardner Barclay and Stoddard Hayes Roads, deputies said.

The man was identified as Robert Travis Eakin, 30, of 6880 state Route 45, Bristol Township, through ''networking between officers in different departments,'' according to Detective Mike Yannucci.

Yannucci stopped short of saying tattoos were used as the identifying marks. He had tattoos of a skull and flames on one of his forearms and the word ''trouble'' tattooed on the back of one of his shoulders.

Detectives on Monday had released information saying they were trying to identify a white male in his 30s who was 5-foot-6 and weighed 160 to 170 pounds.

His body was found about 1:30 a.m. at the substation by an Ohio Edison crew.

Yannucci said detectives and power company representatives believe Eakin sawed through a thick electrical connection at the base of the substation and was electrocuted on the final saw stroke through the connection when his body became the ground for the considerable amount of electricity.

Mark Durbin, a spokseman for the electric company, said he estimates Eakin could have been hit with as much as 12,000 volts.

''The investigation is continuing. It's not likely he tried to do this without help,'' Yannucci said.

Eakin, commonly known as Travis, had bonded out of Trumbull County Jail on Wednesday, two days before celebrating his 30th birthday. He had been released prior to a Warren Municipal Court hearing set for Thursday on charges of receiving stolen property and domestic violence.

The damage to the substation caused a power surge that started fires at the site and in various homes. Officials said there was no significant fire damage at many of the homes, but many household appliances and electronic devices like televisions and computers were damaged during a power surge.

Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Andrew Logan said he lost his wide screen television in the power surge. Logan's family once owned the property where the substation now sits, but sold off the tiny corner to the power company for construction of the station.

Bob Miller of W.I. Miller & Sons, which operates the largest farming operation in the county, said a company computer was taken out by the surge.

''I've heard of 120 volt lines surging to maybe 175 volts and 220 lines getting up to 240 or 250 volts,'' Miller said.

In the hour after the surge, Trumbull County 911 dispatch received more than 15 calls from residents and alarm companies with reported damage and outages in Kinsman and Gustavus on nearby Webber Cole, Davis Peck and Kinsman Nickerson roads along with on state Route 5 and Main Street. Reports included blown out TVs and appliances and smells of smoke.

A resident at 7199 Webber Cole Road N.E. in Kinsman told dispatch circuits were blowing and sparking and that the wallpaper was burning in the kitchen. Three in the home had evacuated.

A resident at 4604 Davis Peck Road N.E. in Gustavus said lights in the home were flashing and he heard popping in the home.

Glass in the front of Main Street Convenience, 8509 Main St. N.E., in Kinsman, was broken out.

An Ohio Edison spokesman on Tuesday said people with claims of damaged electronics from the power surge in Gustavus should call their insurance companies.

''Because of the nature of the incident, they need to work through homeowner's insurance," Mark Durbin said.

The good news is that that insurance may cover electronics damaged in power surges. Blake Zitko, with State Farm's public affairs department, said his company covers power surges even if it resulted from malicious intent as it did in Gustavus, but he said that may be different from company to company.

People looking to make a claim on their electronics should have a receipt or a credit card statement, something that shows they purchased the damaged item. His company encourages people with homeowner's insurance to inventory their items in case of an emergency.

Reporters Bill Rodgers and Darcie Loreno contributed to this story.

cbobby@tribtoday.com