Children's Safety Zone

WICKENBURG, AZ – Authorities say a man died after his vehicle was swept down a wash near Wickenburg on Saturday night.

According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, 65-year-old Richard Leonard Evans was traveling home just after 6 p.m. when he tried to drive his SUV through a wash crossing Red Hill Road.

“We saw him come down the road, there was a river flowing really high in the wash. We told him not to go through it but he told us it wasn’t that bad,” said neighbor Guy Rodmonich.

The roadway was flooded and he was swept away. Evans was just a few feet from his driveway.

Rescuers reached Evans and transported him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“We saw him trying to steer the SUV. He was hitting every tree in his path. We tried to rescue him but there was nothing we could do,” said Brandon Pruitt who watched the scene unfold.

MCSO spokesman Chris Hegstrom said Evans’ vehicle was nose down in the dirt and there was water in the vehicle when he was found.

“The roads are treacherous,” Hegstrom said. “Can’t stress enough that if you see water on the roadway flowing at any speed you don’t know how deep it is. You need to avoid the area, it’s not safe.”

Hegstrom said deputies helped with a number of water rescues in the area, including one with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office in which the MCSO helicopter was used.

MESA, AZ – A 68-year-old Mesa woman was found floating in her son’s backyard pool Sunday after her husband noticed she was gone from the home.

Police said the woman’s husband left their home for an afternoon meeting, later returning to find that his wife, Davene Montierth, was not there.

One of his sons living next door returned home after getting a phone call from his father, finding his mother floating near the top of the water in his backyard pool, according to police.

He pulled Montierth out of the water and another family member called 911.

Officials said the pool was very dirty.

The Mesa Fire Department was called to the scene and later pronounced Montierth deceased.

The case is being handled as a drowning, but the investigation is ongoing.

QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. ﾓAugust is drowning impact awareness month, and Queen Creek firefighters want to remind residents of the ABCs of water safety: Adult supervision, Barriers between children and water, and Classes in CPR for adults and swim lessons for children.

Drowning is a top cause of injury-related death for children in Arizona, especially in the one- to five-year-old age group. Child drowning is preventable, but sometimes, little can be done for a child once he or she has fallen into the water. Drowning can be avoided by following these important and life saving rules:

• Maintain constant adult supervision at all times.
• Install barriers surrounding the pool. Fences should be five feet high and gates should be self-closing and self-latching.
• Keep items that can be used for climbing away from pool fences.
• Never keep toys in or around a pool.
• Have a phone nearby. Post the 9-1-1 emergency telephone number and the physical address of the pool on the phone.

Purple ribbons recognizing the importance of water safety and the impacts of drowning are available free-of-charge at Queen Creek Town buildings and both Queen Creek fire stations through the month of August.

ANTHEM, AZ – Strong storms in Anthem dumped enough water to overflow a wash and knock down a brick wall Tuesday night.

A woman, who asked only to be identified as Jeannette, said she was in her backyard when the brick wall collapsed.

“I actually went under water and was stuck under my hot tub,” she told ABC15.

Jeannette said she swam as hard as she could to the surface and hopped on a nearby fence until a neighbor helped rescue her.

Across Anthem, debris cluttered neighborhoods and roadways.

Landscaping crews expected to work overnight to clean up the mess.

MESA, AZ – Authorities have identified a little boy who drowned in Mesa.

Mesa Fire Department spokesman Forrest Smith said the 4-year-old was found in a backyard pool near University Drive and Gilbert Road late Tuesday afternoon.

Mesa police say Cadan Huss Pickering was with his mother and great grandfather at the home.

CPR was being performed by Mesa police when fire crews arrived, Smith said. The boy was unresponsive enroute to the hospital.

The child was taken to Cardon Children’s Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

It was unknown how long the boy was in the water or how he was found.

Air15 video showed police putting up crime scene tape around a home with a pool that appeared to be green and murky.

Police say homicide detectives took over the investigation.