Jurors clear electrical firm in 2003 death

A Clark County jury on Monday cleared an electrical company of any wrongdoing in the August 2003 death of a Kentucky tourist on the Strip.

Rebecca "Becky" Longhoffer, 39, was electrocuted when she stepped on an iron plate covering a utility box containing traffic signal wiring during a rainstorm. Authorities said frayed wiring touching a rib on the box's lid caused the electrocution.

Longhoffer's family in 2005 sued Acme Electric, asking for $3.8 million for each of her four surviving children, said Michael Hall, the company's attorney.

Acme Electric was working for Clark County at the time on moving traffic signal wiring in the area in conjunction with the widening of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Longhoffer was crossing Spring Mountain Road at Las Vegas Boulevard, near Treasure Island, on Aug. 16, 2006, when she was electrocuted. She was wearing open-toed shoes at the time.

The plaintiffs also sued Clark County and a number of other construction companies.

All, save Acme Electric, settled.

The county paid the most, a total of $200,000 -- or $50,000 to each of Longhoffer's four children.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued Acme Electric could have worked on the utility box in question and exposed the wire.

Hall said that while Acme Electric was working on traffic signal wiring in the area, the company had not worked on the one that killed Longhoffer.

In a recent motion filed in the four-year long case, Hall wrote, "The obvious culprit in this case was Clark County. Clark County representatives have testified, in no uncertain terms, that it did not require that its pullboxes be 'grounded' or 'bonded.' Had it maintained such a requirement, the incident ... could not have occurred."

After the nearly week-long trial, the jury deliberated six hours before finding unanimously in favor of the defense.

The incident prompted the county to embark on a massive inspection process of the nearly 100,000 electrical boxes installed in sidewalks, streets and parks at the time.

Hall said after the incident, the county hired Acme Electric to ground the metal covers to prevent such an electrocution from happening in the future.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.