PORTLAND, Ore. — A man drowned in Horseshoe Lake in Washington while fleeing from police after the park was closed early Thursday morning.
According to Woodland Police Department, the man had fled away from an officer who was trying to get his attention by flashing the emergency lights on the patrol car. The man quickly turned away and went deeper into the park and toward the lake.
Around 10 minutes later, the officer found the man in the water about halfway across the lake; the man then began to ask for help, saying that "he was unable to swim anymore," Woodland police said.
The officer lost sight of the man shortly afterwards and requested additional help from search and rescue, as well as more law enforcement units, before grabbing a nearby lifejacket and jumping into the water in attempt to rescue the man. Woodland police said the officer swam to the last known location of the man but was unable to find him.
Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office Dive team arrived and searched the lake but were also unable to find the man. Due to how long the man had been in the water, Woodland police said the mission turned from rescue to recovery.
Around five hours after the initial rescue call was placed, the dive team found the man dead.
On Tuesday, the Cowlitz County Coroner's Office identified that man as 37-year-old Yegor Ventaminovic Demenko. He died of asphyxia through an accidental drowning, the coroner said.
