WESTMINSTER — The death of a Seneca man is being blamed on a copper theft attempt gone wrong.

Frankie Sheriff, 34, died late Saturday night by apparent electrocution and was discovered dead at 11:45 p.m. by two Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative workers investigating the origin of an electrical outage 45 minutes earlier.

Workers discovered Sheriff by a utility pole near an old textile building on 120 Old Seneca Road near South Highway 11 with a flashlight and crowbar lying next to him.

“It appears electrical wires were being cut from the pole and another nearby utility pole, which serviced the textile plant,” Coroner Karl Addis said. “It is believed another individual or individuals were present at the time of this incident, and the Oconee County Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate.”

Capt. Steve Jenkins with the Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a relative of Sheriff’s is also believed to have been on scene, and was also injured. While his identity has yet to be released, Jenkins did confirm that he has been hospitalized at AnMed in Anderson with unspecified injuries and will likely face charges in connection with Saturday’s attempted copper theft, as well as other related incidents.

“Over the last few weeks, we’ve had thefts of copper on power lines, and we’ve been working with Blue Ridge to get an estimate,” Jenkins said. “Through the investigation, it looks like it’s been an ongoing string of thefts the last two weeks or so.”

Sheriff was found near dual poles, which had three transformers with an electrical service feed of 7,200 volts. Addis said Monday that an autopsy confirmed the preliminary determination of death as electrocution.

Specimens will be sent to South Carolina Law Enforcement division for toxicology analysis. Sheriff’s death has been ruled accidental.

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