A man was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center after he was rescued from a pond in Libertyville, just after 5:00 p.m. Monday.
The man who was pulled from a pond near Northwind Boulevard and Route 45 in Libertyville was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived at Level I Trauma Center Advocate Condell Medical Center. The man was identified as Abner Abdiel Melgar-Barrientos, age 38, of Round Lake Beach, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office. A preliminary autopsy indicated that that man drowned, but the Lake County Coroner’s Office also reports he apparently had a medical event before his sedan left the roadway and became partially submerged in a pond.
The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team and Lake County Coroner’s Office are working with the Libertyville Police Department for the investigation.
Libertyville police and firefighter/paramedics responded about 4:45 p.m. Monday June 4, 2018 to a report of a car that drove into a pond in front of the Poko Loko Early Learning Center, 1601 Northwind Boulevard in Libertyville.
Firefighter/paramedics arrived at the scene and found a gray 4-door sedan that was in the water, partially submerged. The driver was initially unconscious and trapped in the car, but the vehicle sank after the driver woke up, and as firefighters were beginning the water rescue. The driver may have done something that caused the car to become submerged.
A MABAS Division 4 (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) Sonar and Open Water Rescue was activated by 5:00 p.m. by Libertyville Fire Department which brought in divers, boats, Side-scan sonar equipment, extra EMS, and other water rescue equipment from Barrington, Deerfield, Grayslake, Gurnee, Lincolnshire, Wauconda, Waukegan. Dive techs were activated from Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Countryside, Deerfield, Gurnee, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Mundelein, Round Lake, Wauconda
Divers were able to extricate the driver from the submerged car and get him out of the water, which was about 8 to 10 feet deep, in about 25 minutes. The driver was again unconscious when divers extricated the man from his car.
The driver was transported to Level I Trauma Center Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. His condition was unknown, and his identity was not released by police.
The incident is under investigation, and at least one witness reported the man may had had a medical issue before his vehicle went into the water. Traffic was heavy when the vehicle went into the water, and became more congested with rescue operations underway near Northwind Boulevard and Route 45, just south of Peterson Road.
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