A 55-year-old man pulled from an Englewood lake Monday night and rushed to a local hospital has died.
The man had been operating a remote control boat at Centennial Park, 4630 S. Decatur St., and went into the water to untangle his boat from another boat when he became distressed, said Melissa Taylor, a Denver Fire Department spokeswoman.
Rescue personnel was called about 8:10 p.m. and the victim, who was completely submerged, was pulled out of the water about an hour later.
Members of the fire department’s water rescue and dive team found the man about 50 yards off shore in 72-degree water.
“That’s a problem — that’s cold water,” Taylor said.
Two Englewood police officers were nearby at the time of the accident. They arrived before emergency rescue, and went into the water but were unable to find the man.
The man “was about 35-40 yards out from a dock, which is located on the south end of the lake, when…(he) appeared to be in distress and he began to go under the water,” according to an Englewood Police Department media release.
“The officers removed their duty belts and other equipment and jumped into the lake” in a rescue attempt, police said.
The man’s friend and another witness also jumped into the lake.
They were not able to find the man, who had gone under water. The four were able to safely return to shore.
At about 9:20 p.m., fire department dive team members pulled the victim from the water. They found him in a section about 30 feet deep, police said.
Emergency responders performed CPR and took the man to Swedish Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
His name was not immediately released.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or
