Newport Harbor grad dies of electrocution

Greg Risling and Jason Soifer

DOVER SHORES -- Scott Millett knew his younger sister loved astronomy.

On Friday morning, the two were trying to watch a meteor shower while

their parents were asleep, but a light across the street was impeding

their view. Millett, a 20-year-old former Newport Harbor High School

student, thought he could shut off the street lamp by cutting the wires

and thus allowing a brighter image through their telescope.

That decision cost him his life.

Millett was killed when hit by an electrical charge of 4,000 volts after

he cut the light’s main power cord. He went into cardiac arrest and died

at Hoag Hospital shortly after that.

“His sister, Kim, is into space and astronomy, and he thought if he could

turn off that one street light, he could get a better picture for her,”

said his father, Robert Millett. “Scott got a little creative and lost

his life.”

Kim Millett, 17, was peering through the telescope in the family’s

driveway located in the 1800 block of Santiago Drive when her older

brother went to get two cutting tools. Authorities said Millett pulled

off an inspection plate at the base of the light and located the

electrical wires. He used one of the tools to cut through the exposed

line that electrocuted him. His sister saw a flash and then noticed

Millett laying unconscious in the street. He stopped breathing, and when

paramedics arrived they were unsuccessful in reviving him.

Millett probably didn’t know the light was tied to other circuits for

surrounding streets. Authorities said there was enough power in the wires

to fuel 80 lights.

“Even with a lower voltage, the amount of amps flowing through that light

would have killed him,” said Newport Beach police Sgt. Mike McDermott.

“The connection left a burn on his hand in the shape of the tool.”

Millett graduated from Newport Harbor in 1996 and was working odd jobs

for the past couple of years, his father said. He was a sports

enthusiast, who loved mountain biking. His father said his son was also

speedy on a computer keyboard.

“He could type faster than I could read,” he said. “He was a kid with a

lot of intelligence and energy. He was a very high-on-life kid.”

Some of Millett’s friends plan to create a Web site in their friend’s

memory.

“He was always trying to help people with problems, and he was good at

what he did,” Robert Millett said. “We are doing as well as can be

expected.”

The family plans to bury Millet at sea.