Authorities: Man drowned while trying to retrieve rod

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Police say the man who drowned in McKelvey Lake while fishing was Augustus Ray Williams of Youngstown.

Williams, 47, of Bott Street, was fishing with a friend near Oak Street Extension on a concrete ledge under a bridge when the accident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday.

Williams’ friend, who was on the other end of the bridge, heard a big splash, police said.

People sitting nearby in their yards yelled to Williams’ friend that the man had fallen into the water.

His friend and those near the lake couldn’t find Williams, police said. His friend called 911.

The Youngstown Fire Department and the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department Dive Team pulled Williams’ body out of the lake at 9:01 p.m. Sunday.

Williams fell into the lake while trying to retrieve his fishing pole, said Capt. William H. Hack Sr. of the dive team.

This is the fourth drowning in the region since Aug. 1, when Susan Hernan, 51, of Youngstown, drowned in Berlin Lake in Berlin Center where she was with her two grandchildren, age 6 and 8. The children were rescued from the water by county deputy sheriffs.

A day later, Brandin Norris, 15, of Farrell, Pa., drowned in the Shenango River in Sharon, Pa., while swimming with friends. Sharon fire officials say he likely was pulled under by a strong current.

Nathan Kinderdine, 7, of Boardman, drowned in a pool last Tuesday during a summer camp at the Leonard Kirtz School in Austintown.