Nov 19, 2007 10:32 pm US/Eastern
Bronx Man Suffers Jolt After Walking On Manhole
By Dave Carlin, CBS 2 HD News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A Bronx man says he was shocked after walking on a manhole cover like this one. (File)
CBS
A Bronx man suffered a shocking jolt when he stepped on a manhole while crossing the street and was overcome by a rush of electricity.
Stray voltage investigators for Consolidated Edison were at Southern Boulevard and Leggett Avenue where the victim, 34-year-old Jermaine Bedell, told police he was jolted and burned around 9:30 in front of the Giant Launder Center. Bedell said it happened the moment he stepped off the sidewalk and onto a metal cover on the street.
Bedell's girlfriend Yvette Reyes says he called her in agony.
"All I understood was the left side of his body [was hurt, he was saying] 'I'm in excruciating pain in the ambulance," Reyes told CBS 2.
Police and EMS confirmed Bedell was brought to Lincoln Hospital where officers said they noticed a smell of something burning on him.
"Do we pay to get excruciating pain in the streets?" said Reyes. "You don't know what you're going to step into."
In the past year, Con Ed received 115 reports of stray voltage. About 40 of those cases involved Con Ed equipment..
A company spokesperson said Con Ed is proactive about the problem, with a fleet of trucks dedicated to stray voltage-related repairs. CBS 2 was told such incidents are down dramatically since the death of 30-year-old Jodie Lane, a Columbia University graduate student, in 2004. She was killed stepping on a metal plate.
Some residents now simply try and avoid walking on the covers at all costs. "Just stay away from these metal grates, that's about it," advises city resident Lou Kizner, who admits he doesn't always follow that rule himself.
Bedell, a former school custodian, will remain hospitalized overnight. The extent of his injuries is being kept under wraps by his doctors.
In investigating Bedell's incident, Con Ed says there was no stray voltage found and no malfunction in the larger service area that would explain Bedell's claim that a simple walk down the street turned dangerously electrifying.
Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 for the latest in this developing story.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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