Man dies while trying to help tow truck driver retrieve his car

INDIANAPOLIS — A man died early Sunday morning after he went into a retention pond to help a tow truck driver retrieve his car in Indianapolis, according to the fire department.

The 34-year-old man and the tow truck driver entered the pond together to hook up his car to get it out when the man became distressed, according to preliminary information from Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Rita Reith.

After the man almost pulled the tow truck driver under the water, the tow truck driver, fearing for his own safety, got out of the pond and called the fire department around 4:45 a.m. to the 4000 block of Pendleton Way, Reith said.

Fire department personnel arrived and were able to pull the man out of the pond, Reith said. He later died.

His identity has not been released.

Indianapolis Fire Department/Photo Provided

"Divers arriving on scene were able to locate the man quickly due to the fact that the witnesses remained on scene and were able to direct divers to the last seen location in the water," Reith said. "On scene witness information is the vital link between initial response and rapid recovery."

Personnel from the Lawrence Fire Department assisted at the scene. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the incident.