By Dave O'Brien

Record-Courier staff writer

MANTUA TOWNSHIP -- A 34-year-old man was pronounced dead at a Geauga County hospital after drowning in a pond off S.R. 44 Friday evening.

The Mantua-Shalersville Fire Department received a call at 5:59 p.m. of a possible drowning at Stachowski Alpacas, 12648 S.R. 44, Chief Matt Benner said.

Benner said the victim, whose name was not released Friday night, had been swimming with three co-workers in a pond approximately 100 yards off the road when for some reason, he submerged and failed to surface.

Upon arrival, personnel from Benner's department in Mustang floatation suits -- also called "Gumby" suits, he said -- made the first attempts to locate the man in the water with assistance from shore personnel. Divers from the Portage County Water Rescue Team soon arrived and entered the pond, retrieving the victim 40 minutes after the initial call, Benner said.

The man was taken to University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center in Chardon by a Mantua-Shalersville ambulance, where he was pronounced dead, Benner said.

Benner could not release the victim's name, pending notification of family. A message seeking additional information was left for Portage County Sheriff Duane Kaley.

The water rescue team consists of divers from the Aurora, Kent, Mantua-Shalersville, Ravenna Township, Streetsboro and Suffield fire departments and the sheriff's office. The Portage County Sheriff's Office and the Portage County Emergency Management Agency also responded.