INDIANAPOLIS — A 21-year-old man is dead after he drove his car into a pond on the city’s northeast side Saturday morning.
According to Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Rita Reith, crews were called to the area of East 56th Street and Allisonville Road just after 8 a.m. on reports of a car in a pond. That’s just west of Binford Boulevard on East 56th Street.
When crews arrived at the scene they found a passenger car partially submerged in the water. Two firefighters and a witness, Jerome Becraft, jumped into the water in an attempt to pull the man from the sinking car.
According to Reith, visual contact was made with the man. He was alert but would not get out of the vehicle.
“He was actively alert at that time and chose not to assist in his own recovery,” Reith said.
The car became fully submerged and a dive team removed the man from the vehicle. The man was later pronounced dead.
Witnesses told authorities the man intentionally rear-ended another driver who was stopped at the stoplight at the intersection of East 56th Street and Allisonville Road. The man was seen trying to push the other driver’s SUV out of the way. When the driver of the SUV got out of the vehicle to approach the man, authorities say the man intentionally drove around the SUV and into the pond nearby.
Authorities do not know why the man drove into the water or why he would not get out of his car.
The driver of the SUV told authorities he did not know the man.
The identity of the victim has not yet been released. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
