Car strikes wire causing man to fall from 35-foot-tall pole

A Lodi, Mo., man died on Thursday after a vehicle struck a wire that he was hoisting to the top of a 35-foot-tall pole.

William Friley, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene by Scott County Coroner Scott Amick. Friley was taken to Amick Burnett Funeral Home in Scott City, Mo. Driver Linda Hampton, 40, of Sikeston, Mo., was not injured.

The accident reportedly occurred at 10:09 a.m. on County Road 472, one mile north of Sikeston. Friley was pulling a wire across the roadway. The wire was tied to a rope that ran through a pulley at the top of a 35-foot pole. Friley was attached to the other end of the rope.

Hampton's eastbound vehicle struck the wire, which pulled Friley to the top of the pole.

The pole broke in half, and Friley fell to the ground, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.