Worker installing pump drowns in Westchester County lake

Thursday, June 25, 2015
Body of drowning victim pulled from Westchester County lake
Shannon Sohn is over the scene with the latest.

POUND RIDGE -- A worker installing a pump in a Westchester County lake fell from a canoe and drowned Thursday afternoon, police say.

The body of the victim, identified as 31-year old Alejandro Limon-Garcia of White Plains, was pulled from Blue Heron lake behind South Bedford Road in Pound Ridge.

Authorities say he and another worker from a landscaping company were installing an irrigation pump for a private residence.

At some point Limon-Garcia, who was in a canoe, lost his balance and went into the water.

He attempted to retrieve the canoe, which sent it farther into the lake.

"At that point the worker started to struggle and went under," said New York State Police investigator Joseph Becerra. "His co-worker went back to the residence and called 911. Divers from the Stamford Fire Department as well as Pound Ridge and Bedford were here and he was found about an hour after he went under."

Becerra said the man was not wearing a life jacket and was struggling in the water as if he couldn't swim.