Three Accused After High School Football Field Electrocution

Monday, May 15, 2017 | 0

Two supervisors and the owner of a Southern California contracting company are facing prison time for scaffolding law violations that prosecutors say led to the electrocution of an untrained employee and serious injury to a co-worker who tried to help him.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office filed charges of willful violation causing death and willful violation causing injury against John Lawrence Alberts of Apple Valley, Thomas Aaron Blythe of Rancho Santa Margarita and Timothy Scott Gordon of Lake Elsinore. The DA’s office also filed the same charges against Five Star Plastering, which Blythe owns. 

Prosecutors say Blythe, 46, ordered his employees to erect scaffolding on a football field at Mission Viejo High School to display a banner supporting the school’s team. Blythe was also vice president of the school’s booster club. 

Daniel Pohl and John Doe, both 23, were directed to work on the scaffolding. Each had been on the job for less than three weeks, prosecutors said.

During construction in July 2014, Pohl came into contact with power lines that were about two feet above the scaffolding and was killed instantly by high-voltage electrocution. Doe climbed up the scaffolding to help Pohl and was also seriously injured by the power line, the DA’s office said.

Prosecutors say Gordon, 52, was the company’s safety officer, but he failed to inspect the job site for safety hazards. Alberts, 57, was foreman at the site and improperly checked the clearance between the scaffolding and high-voltage power lines, according to the DA’s office. 

U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules require at least six feet of clearance between scaffolding and power lines. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health fined the defendants $164,000 before criminal charges were filed. 

The DA's office said each of the men charged could be sentenced to up to three years in prison and fined up to $1.5 million.