A man who was nearly electrocuted after mistakenly touching a high-voltage line when he climbed up a 100-foot high pole in Boyle Heights Saturday was expected to survive his injuries, authorities said.
Police and fire personnel responded to the intersection near State Main and Marengo streets (map) around 3 a.m. after receiving a report of a man on a power or light pole, according to Lt. Gamino with the Los Angeles Police Department.
By the time they arrived to the intersection, which is right where LAC/USC Medical Center is located, the man was approximately 100 feet in the air on the pole and moving around. He told police he wanted to go back to Oklahoma, Gamino said.
The man then touched the high-voltage line by mistake, was electrocuted and fell off the pole, hitting the top of a sign before landing on the ground.
At one point, the man began fighting with paramedics who were trying to treat him at the scene, according to Gamino.
He has been hospitalized in stable condition.
No further details about the incident have been released.
KTLA’s Geoff Peters contributed to this story.
