Cardiac incident suspected as cause of death
The victim of the Aug. 24 drowning on Lido Beach was Suwanee, Ga., resident, Peter Ponizhaylo, The Sarasota News Leader has learned after receiving a copy of the unredacted report that the Sarasota Police Department provided the publication at its request.
At the time of his death, Ponizhaylo was about a month shy of his 65th birthday, the report said.
In their initial news release on the incident, Sarasota Police Department personnel noted that an investigation remained underway into the drowning, which had occurred just after 6 p.m. on Aug. 24. A section of the report the News Leader obtained this week explained that the Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division was asked to send someone to the scene because “of the nature of the death, the age of the patient, and location as to where the incident occurred.”
Interviews with Ponizhaylo’s wife and two friends who live in Sarasota indicated that he likely suffered a cardiac event, the report said. A detective conducted those interviews at the Police Department Headquarters following his death, the report noted.
The News Leader was unable to obtain a copy of autopsy report from the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office prior to the deadline for this issue.
CPR administered by bystanders and medics for about 40 minutes
Just before 7 p.m. on Aug. 24, a crime scene investigator with the agency was asked to come to 400 Benjamin Franklin Drive in reference to a death investigation, the report explained. Upon arrival on the scene, the report added, that investigator met with a sergeant and another officer who explained that Ponizhaylo “was found in the water unresponsive. Fire Rescue attempted life-saving measures on [Ponizhaylo],” it continued, but he was pronounced deceased and the body was transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH).”
A sergeant on Lido told the detective who was assigned the case “that there wasn’t anything left of a scene other than the beach and water,” the detective added in the report.
During a later briefing provided by an officer, the detective continued, she learned that Ponizhaylo and a friend “wanted to swim to the buoy at Lido Beach.” Halfway to that structure, the detective added, Ponizhaylo “turned around to swim back to shore.” Then he “was observed floating in the water,” face up.
The friend and bystanders pulled Ponizhaylo from the water, the report continued, “and CPR was administered for approximately 40 minutes. CPR was provided by civilians” until an emergency medical unit with the Sarasota County Fire Department arrived. Then the medics took over the CPR, the report added.
Ponizhaylo’s wife, Inna, told the detective during an interview that she and her husband were visiting Florida on vacation. In recent years, she said, her husband had been diagnosed with a medical issue. (Details about the diagnosis were redacted.) He was advised that he would need surgery, she added, but he had not undergone that procedure.
“Earlier this year, he had a test on his heart to evaluate the progression of the problem,” she continued. “However, the incorrect test was completed,” and her husband said “he would not return for the correct test.”
Further, Inna, told the detective that her husband “did not complain about much including any medical issues,” that report continued. “He was not taking any medication,” Inna noted. “He did not consume alcohol or smoke any substance due to his strong religious beliefs,” she added.
Earlier on Aug. 24, Inna reported, she and her husband had gone to dinner with two friends, Nikolay and Nadezhda Pikul, who live in Sarasota, after which they stopped by that couple’s home before heading to Lido Beach. They arrived at Lido around 4 p.m., she said, though she acknowledged that she “had a difficult time recalling the time,” the report noted.
When Nikolay came back to get her and Nadezhda after he had finished his swim, Inna continued, they spotted Peter floating in the water. They pulled him to shore and began CPR, Inna added.
“She believes that Peter may have had a medical episode involving his heart,” the report said.
Nadezhda Pikul told the detective that she and Inna were swimming in about 4 feet of water when Peter and Nikolay swam out. Peter had swum back to within a couple of feet of her, Pikul added. Then, at some point, she continued, she recalled someone asking where Peter was. “She described Inna and Peter as good people and does not believe there was any foul play,” the report added. Pikul explained that they had been friends with Inna and Peter for 25 years and used to be neighbors in Atlanta.
Nikolay Pikul told the detective that he and Nadezhda moved to Sarasota six years ago. Nikolay said he had met Peter at a church in Atlanta and that they had been friends for 28 years, the report noted.
Peter and Inna were staying at Peter’s brother’s home in North Port, Nikolay continued.
Earlier on Aug. 24, he added, Peter and Inna had invited Nikolay and Nadezhda to visit a museum with them, after which they went to dinner and then to Lido.
While they were on the beach, Nikolay added, Peter asked Nikolay if he wanted to swim with Peter to the buoy. Nikolay “asked Peter if he was a good swimmer,” the report noted, and Peter said he was. Yet, Peter swam only about 20 feet before turning around to head back to shore, Nikolay told the detective.
Nikolay added that “he is an excellent [swimmer],” the report continued, so he proceeded to the buoy. When he swam back to Inna and his wife, Nikolay continued, they were in water at a depth where all of them could touch the bottom. After he reached them, he added, he heard a group of people in an inflatable call to Peter, Nikolay told the detective.
When he spotted Peter, Nikolay said, “he thought maybe Peter was floating on his back because he was taking a rest from the swim,” the report pointed out.
When Nikolay went over to Peter, he told the detective, he realized Peter was not breathing, so “he attempted to drag Peter out of the water, but needed help due to Peter’s size and the sand.”
Nikolay, too, said that bystanders administered CPR to Peter. He added that “he believes Peter may have had a medical episode because he never heard Peter yell for help or anything. He believes Peter just went under the water,” the detective wrote in the report.
Further, he told the detective that “he had never known Peter to drink alcohol or smoke. He described [Peter and Inna] as very Christian people and explained to [the detective] that Ukrainian and Russian Christians do not smoke or drink due to religious beliefs,” the report pointed out.
Nikolay “did not know [of] any health issues that Peter may have had,” the report added.
Photos that a Police Department crime scene investigator had taken confirmed “that Peter did not have any physical injury,” the report said.
The detective wrote in the report that she had found “no obvious signs of injury to Peter Ponizhaylo and no indication of foul play.”
She did note that the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office was going to perform an autopsy.