MONTGOMERY COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is conducting a death investigation after a suspect identified as Caleb M. O’Donnell, 32, Coffeyville, drowned in the Verdigris River during a police pursuit on Friday afternoon.

According to a KBI media release, just after 1:30p.m. Friday, the Coffeyville Police Dept. requested KBI assistance to investigate a drowning that occurred following a police pursuit.

Preliminary information suggests that on Aug. 16 at approximately 12:20 p.m., the South Coffeyville, Okla. Police Department received a call from a citizen who spotted an ATV that had been reported stolen from the Montgomery County Fair on Thursday night.

The ATV was first observed in Kansas, headed South on U.S. Highway 169 toward the Oklahoma border. An officer from the South Coffeyville Police Department began pursuing the ATV at a distance, and authorities from Kansas were notified. The officer saw the ATV turn north near 500 E. 1400 Rd., and travel through a field toward the Verdigris River.  Once the officer caught up, he discovered that the driver of the ATV later identified as O’Donnell had crashed into a tree. The officer then spotted the man struggling in the nearby Verdigris River.

The Coffeyville Police Department, the Coffeyville Fire Department, and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene. 

Authorities threw ropes to him to try to help him. An officer from the Coffeyville Police Department, and a member of the Coffeyville Fire Department entered the water and tried to rescue the O’Donnell but were unsuccessful.  He was pronounced dead at the scene.

O’Donnell had two previous drug convictions, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.