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Driver of truck submerged in Riverview retention pond dies

 
Published Dec. 27, 2014

TAMPA — A man trapped under water for several minutes Friday night after the pickup truck he was driving crashed into a Riverview retention pond has died.

Charles R. Vance III, 47, of Riverview died Saturday morning at Tampa General Hospital, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Vance was driving a 1993 Chevy eastbound on Gibsonton Drive about 7:30 p.m. when his truck suddenly veered onto the shoulder, careened off a tree and crashed through a chain-link fence into the pond, coming to rest upside down. The crash happened at Gibsonton Drive and Mathog Road, about a quarter-mile west of U.S. 301.

The passenger, Joshua Walker, 27, was able to escape the vehicle, the Sheriff's Office said. He was taken to Brandon Regional Hospital in good condition.

Vance was trapped and had to be pulled out by deputies and Hillsborough County firefighters, the Sheriff's Office said. The truck was submerged for 10 to 15 minutes before Vance was rescued.

The cause of the crash was still under investigation Saturday. Investigators say medical issues may have played a role.