Erick Begle, 34, with of Begle's Property Maintenance was trimming trees using a BIL-JAX 4527A trailer mounted boom lift when he was electrocuted to death in Cape Coral, Florida
CAPE CORAL, Fla. -
A Cape Coral husband and father of four lost his life in a moment while he was just doing his job.
Erick Begle, 34, was trimming trees when he was electrocuted.
NBC2 spoke with Erick's wife, Samantha, about her husband and their four children.
She said some of their kids have health issues, and she's worried about how she's going to provide for them, but at the same time, she's breathing a little easier thanks to help from a friend and support from the community.
"He was 34 years old, healthy, and in blink of an eye ... gone," Samantha said.
"He's always been my rock to get me through everything."
The Begles are part owners of Begle's Property Maintenance. Erick was the sole provider for the family. He was trimming trees in a Cape Coral neighborhood when he hit a powerline.
"The life insurance policy that we thought we had on him, we don't, and at this point, I don't know what we're going to do to provide for our kids."
A family friend set up a GoFundMe account for the family. It has raised more than $9,600 so far.
"She never asked, she's not asking for a dollar, a penny, nothing. But, it's just the fact of a mother myself, a wife, thinking what would be helpful?" said Heather Sperrazza, who set up the account.
"It's going to help a lot. We do have some children that are not exactly healthy children, and it's been a struggle for the last few years already so this definitely threw me for a curve ball," Samantha said.
She also wants to thank everyone who has reached out in support.
===============
Man electrocuted in Cape Coral
CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- A man was electrocuted and died, Saturday, while he was trimming a tree for a client on Vendome Court, off Cape Coral Street. Erick Begle, 34, with of Begle's Property Maintenance was trimming trees using a BIL-JAX 4527A trailer mounted boom lift when he was electrocuted to death in Cape Coral, Florida.
The area was blocked off with crime scene tape through the afternoon, but has since cleared. Glenn Embrie, who lives at the home where the accident happened called it tragic. "I wasn't home. I got the phone call from one of the neighbors that everything was going on," he said. "Apparently he touched the power line with the pole-saw."
The man, whose identity has not been released by police, was a local landscaper in the area and a father of four, according to Embrie.
Fox 4 spoke with a neighbor who saw the aftermath of the accident. "I came out and I saw the guy in the air and he was burnt," he said.
Fox 4 reached out to LCEC, the power company that serves the area, and we have not heard back yet. However, LCEC and FPL offer tree trimming services to avoid dangerous accidents like this one. FPL's tree trimming service can be reached here. LCEC's service can be reached here.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017 05:38PM
DUBLIN, Calif. (KGO) -- Cal-OSHA is looking at other speed slides in California water parks to compare them with the Emerald Plunge in Dublin where a boy was injured Saturday.
The park was closed Tuesday, but investigators were drilling into the angle of the green slide better known as The Emerald Plunge. Cal-OSHA says many speed slides in California have 30-degree drops. The Emerald Plunge is pretty extreme with an 80-degree drop.
On the park's opening day Friday, a 10-year-old boy fell off of the Emerald Slide. He was checked out at the hospital and is OK.
On Saturday, a 10-year-old boy careened out of the bottom trough of The Emerald Plunge slide during the grand opening of the waterpark.
The day before, Cal-OSHA gave the green light and issued a permit for the ride after they said the water park, owned by the city of Dublin, corrected a long list of issues noted in an April inspection-- including loose bolts at the base.
They're zeroing in on what they say appeared to be pooling or puddling of water in the trough at the bottom.
"Because that may have contributed to the accident, that's one of the things they're looking very very closely at," said Erika Monterroza, a spokesperson for Cal-OSHA.
"I have asked if there are other slides like this one at other parks in California. I am waiting for a response," said Monterroza.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Cal-OSHA said they are actively pulling records for each and every speed slide across the state with similar angles and heights.
The manufacturer of the slide and many others, White Water West issued the following statement: "We are thankful the 10-year-old involved in the incident walked away without any serious injury."
They said they are working closely with officials at Dublin's Waterpark, where both of the high-speed slides are closed down during the investigation.
Thousands enjoyed the new park over the weekend. It will reopen on Saturday.
================
Boy flies off slide at Dublin water park on opening day
A 10-year-old boy was thrown from a water park slide on the water park's opening day in Dublin Saturday. (KGO)
by Leslie Brinkley
Saturday, May 27, 2017 03:48PM
DUBLIN, Calif. (KGO) -- A 10-year-old boy from San Francisco was taken to the hospital as a precaution after he slid off a waterslide at a new Dublin waterpark Saturday. He was treated for scrapes and then released.
The boy went down a new three story slide called the Emerald plunge. As he came down and got to the bottom of the slide he flew up and over the edge and rolled onto the concrete. That slide is now closed as is the blue slide next to it. They both have steep 80-degree drops.
This was the very first day this city owned water park was open. It's called "The Wave" and cost $43 million to build. Hundreds of other people stayed at the park Saturday afternoon, most of them unaware of the accident. They enjoyed the other four slides and the pools. The assistant city manager witnessed it all. "I was standing there. He seem to be shook but seemed to be OK. He immediately got up and went into the first aid room. He was assessed by staff and his parents were here," Linda Smith said.
The city of Dublin says the slides went through extensive testing and were just permitted yesterday. The manufacturer was on site Saturday, and will see if they need to add a weight requirement or adjust the pressure or flow of the water on the slide.
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
Fire investigators have ruled arson as the cause of a fire that claimed the life of a Baton Rouge woman.
Amanda Korkosz, 32, was found inside her home on Henagen Avenue, which is off Plank Road, around 4:30 a.m.. An autopsy showed that she died of smoke inhalation.
Authorities have in custody a man they say believe to be connected to the fire.
Edward Allen, 35, of Baton Rouge, was arrested on charges of false communication of a planned arson after a witness identified him as Korkosz's boyfriend.
According to the witness' statement to police, on the morning of May 25, she saw and heard Allen say he was going to set his girlfriend's house on fire if she put him out again.
The witness told police on the next morning, May 26, she saw Allen walking in a fast pace and saying Korkosz "snuck" [punch] him and put him out.
The fire happened later that same night.
According to the probable cause report, the witness gave a detailed description of Allen.
Officials have not said whether the charges against Allen will be upgraded.
================
A 32-year-old woman's body was found inside a north Baton Rouge house early Friday shortly after firefighters put out a blaze at the home, police said.
Sgt. L'Jean McKneely, a Baton Rouge police spokesman, identified the victim as Amanda Korkosz. She died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, said East Baton Rouge coroner Beau Clark, clarifying that her cause of death is pending toxicology reports and further investigations.
Both Clark and McKneely said authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire and the woman's death, including arson investigators and public safety officials.
The fire broke out between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. in the 5700 block of Henagen Avenue, just off Plank Road, said Curt Monte, a spokesman for the Baton Rouge Fire Department.
McKneely said police had responded to a domestic dispute at the home hours before the fire, but that it was too early to tell if the domestic dispute and the fire were related.
There were three other people inside the home who escaped without injuries, he said.
The owner of the home, Randall Johnson, said he called police around 2 a.m. Friday to report a domestic dispute between his niece, Korkosz, who also lived in the Henagen Avenue house, and her boyfriend.
"They were having a dispute and I called the police and told her boyfriend to leave," Johnson said Friday as he waited for police to finish their investigation inside his home.
By the time police arrived, the boyfriend had left the house, Johnson said.
"The police took down their report and left," he said.
About two hours later, Johnson said, he awoke to the smell of smoke.
"I started roaming around the bedroom to see if my girlfriend had left a cigarette burning," he said.
The bedroom was dark and he thought she might have dumped an ashtray in a trash can, so he turned on a light to look.
"All I could see was the bright red glow of the fire coming out of a living room window," Johnson said.
When he went to the living room, he saw flames "crawling up the walls to the ceiling and into the attic," he said. "It was burning fast."
He woke up his girlfriend and the two escaped through a back door. After he was outside, Johnson said, he tried to awaken the two other people who lived in the house, a man, related to him through marriage, and Korkosz.
"I was beating on the walls of the house, yelling at him, 'Get out, get out,'" Johnson said of trying to get his male relative out of the burning house. "He was yelling back, 'I can't see.'"
Johnson said he ran to the back of the house and yelled at the man to go to the window in his bedroom, which he did, and Johnson helped him escape.
Johnson said his niece had not responded.
"I was beating on her bedroom window, calling her name," Johnson said. "I pulled out the air conditioning unit in her window, but the smoke was so thick I couldn't even get my head in the window. It was awful."
Korkosz's body was recovered by firefighters after the flames were doused.
Johnson said she had been living with him for about a year.
"She was trying to get her life back together," he said. "She had past problems and wanted to get her GED."
"I'm still in shock and disbelief," Johnson said. "All I can say is God saved us."
Driver killed after fiery crash in Mira Mesa
by FOX 5 Digital Team
Updated at 10:23PM, May 30, 2017
SAN DIEGO, CA - A man died after his car spun out, crashed into a tree and caught fire on a Mira Mesa street Tuesday, authorities said.
The vehicle veered off Mercy Road near Black Mountain Road, struck a tree and began burning about 4 p.m., according to San Diego police.
A witness told FOX 5 the car appeared to be speeding before the crash. This is also confirmed by the simple fact that the car was almost split in half upon impact with the defenseless tree.
A man died after his car spun out and hit a tree in Mira Mesa on May 30, 2017. (Photo: Michelle Kalchik)
Scripps Ranch-area resident Michelle Kalchik saw black smoke as she was driving on Black Mountain Road and thought it was a brush fire. Then, she rounded the curve and saw the engulfed car.
"People were pulling over," Kalchik said. "I pulled over ahead and could see people behind me doing the same. The accident had just happened."
The motorist, whose name was not immediately available, died at the scene, Officer Billy Hernandez said.
The wreck forced closures of stretches of Mercy and Chabola roads and part of nearby Branicole Lane. All lanes reopened by 8 p.m.
AUDUBON PARK, N.J. (WPVI) --
A former fire chief pleaded guilty Tuesday to using a computer at the fire station to share child pornography.
Forty-six-year-old John Terruso is the former chief of the Audubon Park Volunteer Fire Company.
Investigators found more than 1,000 files of suspected child pornography on the computers back in June of 2015.
Terruso pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree distribution of child pornography and third-degree possession of 100 or more files of child pornography.
Sentencing is set for late August.
===============
Thursday, June 11, 2015
AUDUBON PARK, N.J. (WPVI) -- State prosecutors have accused a New Jersey fire chief of using the firehouse computer to distribute child pornography online.
Authorities arrested 44-year-old John Terruso of Marlton at the Audubon Park Volunteer Fire Company in Camden County on Wednesday night.
The investigation began when a Homeland Security Investigations agent was monitoring a file-sharing network popular with offenders.
Investigators seized four laptop computers, a desktop computer, two external hard drives, a tablet, thumb drives and cellphones.
The state attorney general's office says a preliminary review of the equipment revealed over 1,000 files of suspected child pornography.
"We charge that Terruso sordidly abused the trust placed in him as fire chief by viewing and sharing child pornography at the fire station," said Acting Attorney General Hoffman in a statement.
"In doing so, he allegedly linked himself to the depraved network of offenders who, by sharing child pornography, perpetually re-victimize the children involved and directly motivate those who sexually exploit and torture children to create these vile materials," Hoffman continued.
Residents nearby were disgusted.
"It's sad to hear, really, on account of it's so close to me," said Walt Ashe. "Every day we go through there with my grandson. He's only seven years old."
Pornographic videos were visible inside Terruso's work van parked outside the firehouse.
Terruso is held on $150,000 bail, charged with distribution and possession of child pornography
