Electrocuted man’s alleged partner arrested

YOUNGSTOWN — The man detectives believe was with James O. Leach at an Ohio Edison substation when Leach was electrocuted while stealing copper has been arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter, disrupting public service and breaking and entering, said Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of detectives.

Kenny M. Miller, 31, of Oneta Avenue was arrested this morning in a parking lot on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. He is expected to be held in the Mahoning County jail until arraignment in municipal court Monday morning.

Centorame said Miller, who has several aliases, was arrested by members of the Street Crimes Unit and U.S. marshals fugitive task force. Detective Sgt. Rick Spotleson, using physical evidence from the scene on Oak Hill Avenue and witness statements, was able to obtain the warrants for Miller’s arrest.

Leach, 50, of East Auburndale Avenue fell about 10 feet from a transformer at the Ohio Edison Oak Hill Avenue substation at 3:36 a.m. Sept. 13. A circuit breaker that tripped caused a seven-minute power outage. Leach’s body, jolted with 23,000 volts, was still smoldering when Ohio Edison crews arrived and bolt cutters were stuck to his neck, police said. A walkie-talkie was found near his body.

The jail, using an emergency release plan that controls inmate population, had released Leach, who had been held on a theft charge, 11 hours before his death.