Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Five people received an electric shock Wednesday night while walking near Ashland Avenue and Division Street in Wicker Park.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports with an exclusive interview with one of the victims.

Andrew Curtis was walking past the scene at about 8:30 p.m. and stopped to help

"I heard a bunch of people screaming and the mother was picking up her child out of this curb right here. She was laying on the ground," he said, describing the scene he saw immediately after a family was shocked while walking along an Ashland Avenue curb. The parents and 7, 10 and 12 year old children all fell victim to what's known in the electrical industry as stray voltage.

"They were all really frightened," Curtis said. "The kid that was pulled out of the curb was crying and everyone was really scared."

He says he approached the family intending to help, but instead became the sixth victim.

"Then about five or 10 seconds later I felt a jolt come up my legs," he said.

Curtis says he and the family moved away from the hot zone near the curb and alley, and he called 911.

"Police showed up, fire truck showed up. The police actually suggested that we walk back in the direction that we got shocked which was pretty frightening," he said.

The entire family was taken to St. Mary's Hospital where they were treated and released. Curtis declined to go to the hospital but said he felt lucky to have survived what he described as the scariest thing that's ever happened to him.

"It definitely set me back about 10 minutes until I had the energy to walk home," he said. "And then I still wasn't feeling right for about another 45 minutes."

Back at the scene of the incident Thursday, Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation crews were double checking the area with voltage detectors. An official with the department said "We're pretty confident this is unrelated to our infrastructure."

ComEd says its investigation indicated no problems related to ComEd equipment, nor was any electricity detected in the ground.

The CTA also has infrastructure in the area and has determined that its equipment isn't involved.

So at this point it's still unclear how the family was shocked and who exactly is responsible.

Stray voltage is caused typically when wires fray or deteriorate and then come into contact with metal, which acts as a conductor.

In some cases actual sections of concrete can become electrified when the conditions are right and the concrete is wet enough.

There are more reports about people getting shocked when they are out walking than you might imagine.

Three women got zapped just last Friday in the shadow of the Sears Tower. A heating grate that is designed to melt snow apparently malfunctioned. One woman sprained an ankle; the others are OK.

A man who allegedly stepped on a live wire while waiting for a CTA train in Skokie is suing the CTA, accusing the transportation agency of negligence.

Ethan Fields was awaiting a southbound train at the Dempster Street station in Skokie on May 22, 2007 when he stepped on an exposed live wire, according to a suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday.

Fields claims the CTA was negligent in permitting its southbound station platform to have exposed and live electrical wires on the platform. The CTA is also accused of failing to repair the electrical wires on its platform and failing to warn passengers of the exposed wires, according to the suit.

Smokey the dog was electrocuted when he stepped on a metal grate a year ago in Grant Park. And a dog named Harry was killed when he stepped on a grate that was charged by stray voltage from holiday lights in 2004 at Illinois and Clark streets.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

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