18 September 2023
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (WNCN) — A man who fled Southern Pines police officers Saturday morning swam into a lake and drowned, officials said.
The incident was initially reported just before 10:50 a.m. Saturday in the 100 block of Canterbury Road for “an emotionally distressed individual,” according to a news release from the Southern Pines Police Department.
While police were at the scene and assisting EMS to involuntarily commit the man for treatment, he ran from the scene, the news release said.
Officers followed the man and continued “to try and de-escalate the situation,” police said.
Photo courtesy: Sandhills Sentinel
The man then entered a lake in the Highland Trails community, which is about a mile south of the scene on Canterbury Road.
“After the subject swam deep into the lake, efforts were made by a private citizen and police officers to prevent the subject from drowning,” officers said in the news release.
However, police said the man, identified as Phillip Jordan Hause, 31, drowned in the lake.
Police said that Hause’s death was under investigation.