Wauconda-area man electrocuted while trimming trees near power lines identified

A man who died after being electrocuted Saturday afternoon has been identified by the Lake County Coroner’s Office as 67-year-old Edward Topel of unincorporated Lake County.

Wauconda firefighters and Lake County sheriff’s deputies called about 3:55 p.m. for a report of downed wires and an unresponsive person found Topel in the yard of a home in the 28500 block of North Jackson Avenue in an unincorporated area near Wauconda.

According to the coroner’s office, Topel was electrocuted while on a ladder trimming trees near overhead power lines.

ComEd crews de-energized the wires, allowing emergency crews to remove the man from the ladder. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Preliminary autopsy results showed Topel died from thermal and electrical injuries. The sheriff and coroner’s offices are investigating.