THORNDIKE – A Morrill man was electrocuted Tuesday when a piece of metal roofing he was working with came into contact with electrical service wires connected to a building.

Allen Chasse, 29, was dead after being rushed to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast after the 11:16 a.m. incident in Thorndike village.

Waldo County Chief Deputy Robert Keating said Chasse and another man, Lawrence “Larry” Doolan, 32, also of Morrill, were working on the roof of a Gordon Hill Road building owned by Joe Benjamin of Morrill. The 21/2-story wood-frame building has an unoccupied store on the ground floor and two apartments above.

Keating said the two independent contractors were working on the metal roof when “apparently a piece of metal roofing Mr. Chasse was holding came in contact with the wires” leading to the building.

The electric shock knocked Chasse off the building. Chasse still was clutching a pair of tinsnips when he hit the ground. A woman who lives in one of the apartments told Deputy Ben Seekins that she heard a noise and observed Chasse fall from the roof, Keating said.

Keating said the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified, as was the State Medical Examiner’s Office.