Painter Is Apparent Electrocution Victim

A painter working in a Port Hueneme apartment complex was apparently electrocuted Monday when an aluminum ladder he was touching brushed against a 9,500-volt power line, authorities said.

The 33-year-old Oxnard resident, who was not identified by authorities pending notification of his relatives, was working with a crew painting the Courtyard Villas at 885 Castleway Court, said Joe Luna, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

Shortly after 2 p.m., co-workers heard a loud pop and smelled smoke, according to paramedics at the scene. The man, a married father of two, was found lying on the ground in full cardiac arrest. There were no witnesses to the accident, paramedics said.

Although rescue workers used a portable defibrillator to restart the man’s heart, he never regained consciousness.

He was taken by ambulance to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, where he was pronounced dead at 3:05 p.m., paramedics said.

The cause of the accident was under investigation by the Port Hueneme Police Department, the Ventura County Fire Department and the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration.