Police Identify Driver Whose Vehicle Slid Into Icy Pond Monday

RACINE, WI — Authorities say the driver of a pickup truck died Monday night after the vehicle he was driving ran off Highway 31 and into a pond on the east side of the road near Regency Mall.

On Tuesday afternoon, authorities identified the driver as Jeffery C. Ingle, 46, Racine.

According to a Journal Times report, witnesses said the truck lost control in the parking lot behind Chase Bank, near Highway 31 and 21st St., hit a light pole before sliding down a slope and into the pond.

Reports have the vehicle sliding into the ice at 7:48 p.m. Monday. Divers were in the water by 8:02 p.m. and the driver was removed from the vehicle seven minutes later. According to a report online by Tim Elliott of WISN, the driver was underwater for about 10 minutes, and an off-duty firefighter tried saving the man, but was unable to.

A tow Company and numerous workers could be seen pulling the truck from the west end of the pond using ropes and a power winch in the evening hours Monday.

The driver was transported to Ascension All Saints hospital, but succumbed to his injuries related to the crash. According to reports, the cause of the crash had yet to be determined.

The pond, which borders Highway 31 to the west, Culver's and Chase Bank along 21st Street to the South and Toys 'R Us to the north is the only remains of the original tenant of that property - the Racine County Insane Asylum. The center opened in 1889, and operated under different auspices until it was razed in 1980.

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