Sarasota Police Department investigating June 17 incident
Sarasota Police Department officers are investigating a drowning that occurred off Lido Beach on Sunday, June 17, the department has reported.
At approximately 10 p.m., officers responded to the area of John Ringling Boulevard and Benjamin Franklin Drive, after the department received a report about a man possibly lost in the Gulf of Mexico, a news release says.
When the officers arrived, they determined that a man and woman who had gone swimming had been caught in a rip current, the release continues. Both individuals were in distress and were having difficulty staying above the water, the release adds. The woman told officers they were being swept towards Big Sarasota Pass, but she was able to make it to shore after approximately an hour in the water, the release says.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported winds out of the north and east, ranging from 6 mph to 10 mph between 9:53 p.m. and 10:53 p.m. on June 17 at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. Earlier in the evening — just before 8 p.m. and just before 9 p.m. — the wind was reported out of the northwest as high as 12 mph, the NWS noted. With such conditions, rip currents have been reported in the Gulf of Mexico off county beaches.
Multiple Sarasota police officers and members of the Sarasota County Fire Department arrived and immediately began searching for the man on the shoreline and in the water, the release points out. The man was located on the beach in the 200 block of Benjamin Franklin Drive at approximately 10:45 p.m., the release says. “CPR efforts were initiated but were unsuccessful,” it notes. The man was pronounced dead at approximately 11 p.m., the release adds.
Detectives with the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigation Division have taken over the case, the release notes. Detectives believe the incident was accidental; no foul play is suspected, the release says.
No further details were available as of the deadline for this issue of The Sarasota News Leader.