AMELIA — A cable employee who drove a van into a pond was pronounced dead Thursday night at Clermont Mercy Hospital after police divers pulled him from the van that had been submerged for nearly two hours.

        Christopher A. Albrecht, 30, of Milford was pronounced deadshortly after his arrival at the hospital, Amelia Police Sgt. David Gamble said.

        He was an employee of Adelphia Communications and had been on a service call shortly before his van went off the left side of Eastridge Drive, in the Sedona Ridge subdivision, and went into the pond, Sgt. Gamble said.

        Lt. Otto Huber of the Clermont County Sheriff's Office, whose department was called to provide mutual aid, said subdivision residents reported a vehicle in the water about 7 p.m.

        Several residents tried to determine if anyone was inside the submerged van, but were stymied because it was stuck in several feet of silt, Lt. Huber said.

        Divers from the Hamilton County Task Force 1 dive team also responded.

        When he arrived on the scene, the van's tail lights were all that was visible in the pond, which Sgt. Gamble estimated to be 13 to 14 feet deep.

        Divers tried to get into the van from the water, but were unable to do so because it was “so far struck in the mud they couldn't get access,” he said.

        No one saw the van go into the pond, Sgt. Gamble said.

        A tow truck eventually pulled the van to the surface, and rescuers confirmed that there was someone inside, Sgt. Gamble said.

        He estimated the victim had been submerged for nearly two hours.

        Union Township paramedics transported the man to the hospital.

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