Grand jury to decide on charges after Springfield man climbs on top of electric substation

CLARK COUNTY — A Clark County grand jury will decide whether a 52-year-old Springfield man will face a felony charge after deputies said he climbed a substation around noon Monday, prompting Ohio Edison to cut power to thousands of people for hours.

“He’s on top of the electrical transformers.  I don’t know how he got in,” a 911 caller said. “He’s sitting up there, acting erratic.”

Power has since been restored for the over 3,000 Ohio Edison customers who were left without power in Clark County after the man climbed to the top of the Moorefield Road substation, according to an Ohio Edison spokesperson.

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The Ohio Edison spokesperson said crews deenergized the entire facility for the safety of the man and deputies working to get him to come down.

Deputies were familiar with the man and said he “admitted to using Crystal Meth within the past 48 hours and had not slept or eaten since consuming the drug,” according to an incident report.

According to the incident report, the man “’spoke to other people’ that were not present like he was hearing or seeing other people.” He also “continued to walk around on the transmitters and at times act like he was going to jump then scream and yell.”

The man “bounced on cable lines and was hanging upside down at one point from the permanent scaffolding structure,” according to the report.

After about four hours the man was eventually talked down from the substation.

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