Dade City man electrocuted behind his home

By CARY DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 18, 2000

DADE CITY -- A Dade City man was electrocuted Sunday while operating a honey-extraction machine behind his house, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office reported.

Deputies blamed the death on exposed live wires that apparently came into contact with the metal drum upon which the machine was mounted, sending a deadly jolt of electricity through John Bentley's body.

Investigators also noted that Bentley, 69, was standing on a wet, concrete pool deck while operating the machine, which shakes honey loose from combs.

Bentley's wife and daughter were inside the family's house at 39437 River Road when they heard a loud noise at about 1 p.m., reports said. They rushed outside and found Bentley unconscious on the deck beside the tipped-over machine.

After unplugging the machine, they called 911 and started CPR until rescue crews arrived. Paramedics were unable to revive Bentley, and he was pronounced dead an hour later at Pasco Community Hospital in Dade City.

Nobody witnessed the incident, and investigators with the Sheriff's Office returned to the scene to piece together what happened.

They found a control box that was missing its cover at the end of a short cord attached to the machine. Also gone were the plastic caps that usually covered the ends of the wires in the control box.

Investigators think that Bentley was holding on to the vibrating machine, trying to stabilize it, when the exposed wires made contact with the metal drum.

Deputies found the cover to the control box and the plastic screw caps for the wires on a nearby windowsill.

Bentley's family declined comment.

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