Two dead after car drives into pond

Two men whose car went into a pond at a Southeast Side apartment complex early Wednesday morning have died, Columbus police said.

Neither man’s name had been released as of Wednesday night. Police identified one man by his fingerprints, but his name was being withheld until his family could be notified, Sgt. Rich Weiner said. Police have not identified the second man.

The car went into the pond at the Harford on the Lake complex at about 1:20 a.m. Columbus firefighters pulled both men from the car.

The first man was pronounced dead after arriving at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. The second man died about 9 a.m. at Grant.

Wednesday’s deaths were not the first time someone has died at the Hartford on the Lake pond.

In February 2013, 5-yearold Elijah Walker wandered about 30 feet onto the frozen pond and fell through the ice. A bystander, James Russell Jenkins, 30, tried to rescue the boy but both went under the water. Jenkins was pronounced dead at the scene and Elijah died a few days later.

Elijah’s mother filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the complex. However, a Franklin County judge ruled that her negligence led to the child’s death.

Hartford on the Lake is located east of South Hamilton Road and north of Eastland Mall.