A man suspected of trying to steal copper could face partial or complete amputation of his hands.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker believes the man and an accomplice used a chain saw to cut down a power pole northeast of Council Bluffs last Saturday to gain access to copper in a transformer.

Danker says the injured man was driven to Jennie Edmundson Hospital and dropped off by his accomplice. He was later transferred to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

He told deputies he was helping a friend with a generator, but doctors said the story doesn't pan out. His hands were burned so badly that bone was showing, which would have had to involve more power than a generator could emit.

Charges have not yet been filed. The same man was cited for trespassing a week earlier.