38-year-old Chuck Gilbert Shelton drowned in South Caroilna's Lake Cunningham last week after he fled from the police whom he mistakenly thought were after him, according to local police.
After police deputies from the Greenville County Sheriff's Office arrived at a South Carolina residence with a warrant for an individual who failed to appear in court, Shelton, who was not the subject of the warrant, fled the residence and jumped into Lake Cunningham, where he subsequently drowned.
The event was reported in a statement posted to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.
According to the description on a “Give A Hand” fundraiser posted by Sidney McIntyre, a woman claiming to have been Shelton’s girlfriend, officers “arrived [at the residence] to serve a warrant to a girl that lived [there.]”
The fundraiser was posted to raise money for Shelton's funeral.
The Greenville County Sheriff's Office stated that they do not know why Shelton ran from the residence.
Initial attempts to retrieve Shelton were unsuccessful
The Greenville County Sheriff's Office deputies present at the time reported that they followed Shelton into the water in an attempt to locate him, but were unsuccessful.
Shortly thereafter, a Greenville County Sheriff's Office dive team arrived at the lake. The team located Shelton who was declared deceased at the scene.
The Savannah-based ABC news affiliate, WJCL reported that the coroner's office stated the following day that the cause of Shelton’s death was freshwater drowning. The death has been ruled an accident.