VENTURA : Resident Dies From Electrical Shock
A 62-year-old Ventura man died after receiving an electrical shock from a lamp he was using to light an area under his home where he was working, officials said Wednesday.
Gilbert Geraldo Frias was trying to unplug a bathroom drain below a house on West Mission Avenue moments before the accident occurred about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, said Mitch Breese, a senior deputy coroner for Ventura County.
Frias had dragged a desk lamp plugged into an extension cord to light his way, but the lamp cord apparently was frayed and shocked Frias, who was covered with water, Breese said.
“When it happened, the power went out at the house,” Breese said. “A neighbor called 911 and the firemen pulled him out from underneath the house.”
He was pronounced dead 14 minutes after arriving at Community Memorial Hospital, Breese said.
Ventura Fire Battalion Chief Wayne Belitski said Frias sustained burn marks across the right side of his neck near the shoulder. An autopsy was completed Wednesday, with officials listing electrocution as the cause of death.
Breese said Frias is survived by a wife and two children.
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