Coroner IDs Drowning Victim In Joliet Retention Pond

JOLIET, IL — A 43-year-old Plainfield man died Thursday night after driving his car into a retention pond at Wesmere Parkway and Kimberly Drive, the Joliet Police Department said. Police and paramedics were called to the scene around 10:30 p.m.

The Will County Coroner's Office announced said that Plainfield resident Gareth Beeson was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m. Thursday at the AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center. His car left the roadway and came to a rest in a retention pond. Coroner's officials said Beeson died from drowning due to a motor vehicle mishap.

"A preliminary investigation of this incident determined that a vehicle driven by a 43-year-old Plainfield man was southbound on Wesmere Parkway from Theodore Street at which time the vehicle left the roadway and entered a retention pond where the vehicle began to fully submerge underwater while the male driver was still inside," Joliet Police Sgt. Dwayne English said.

Officers went into the water to try to free the man from his car, but were not able to do so. Divers from the Joliet Fire Department were summoned, and they went into the water and recovered the man from the submerged vehicle, police said.

This incident remains under investigation by the Joliet Police Traffic Unit, English said.