Medical Examiner identifies 82-year-old woman who died after being pulled from vehicle submerged in pond

 

CUDAHY -- The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office has identified an 82-year-old woman who died at the hospital after she was pulled from her vehicle that became submerged in a retention pond near a Cudahy condominium complex.

The victim is Patricia Sikorski of Cudahy.

Sikorski died at St. Luke's Hospital on Tuesday morning, July 21st. Her death has been ruled accidental.

The Cuday Police Department received a 911 call around 8:23 a.m. Tuesday. The caller reported a vehicle was submerged in a retention pond located on the property of the Walnut Ridge Condominium Complex. The caller did not know if the vehicle was occupied.

"As I turned to go in the house, I happened to see down in the pond, a car. That's when I called 911," Judy Hitt said.

Vehicle submerged in retention pond at a condominium complex in Cudahy

When officials arrived on scene, they located an Sikorski inside the vehicle. She was taken to the hospital, where she died.

Police tell FOX6 News Sikorski was at the complex to see a friend.

Authorities are calling this a tragedy. They say Sikorski went over parking bumpers, over a retaining wall and into the pond.

"Where then, the vehicle flipped over onto the roof," Melissa Mueller with the Cudahy Police Department said.

Mueller says apparently, Sikorski accelerated full throttle instead of braking.

Hitt says two landscapers tried to rescue the driver.

"They ran down the hill and they went to the car and the lady was alive -- but they couldn't get the door open," Hitt said.

"We had a Cudahy police sergeant and a firefighter enter the pond and they were able to cut the victim free from her seatbelt and bring her out of the pond," Mueller said.

Sikorski died around 9:30 a.m. at the hospital.

"Just horrible," Hitt said.

The Wisconsin State Patrol was on scene reconstructing the accident. This incident is under investigation by the Cudahy Police Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol. But so far, investigators have ruled out any malfunction involving the 2015 vehicle involved.

Car into pond at condo complex in Cudahy