Westfield police detectives are investigating the death of a Noblesville resident that has brought into question the safety of something drivers encounter almost each day.

Sasha Cottom, 22, was driving his Jeep Cherokee on April 6 when his car went into a retention pond near the area of the Sandpiper Lakes subdivision at Ind. 32 and Sanibel Circle in Westfield shortly after 8:15 p.m.

WPD Cpt. Charles Hollowell said witnesses told police they saw a white SUV-style vehicle turn into the neighborhood and then moments later, turn into the pond. They also reported not seeing anyone get out of the vehicle before the SUV became fully submerged in the water.

Hollowell has been a member of the Westfield police force for 11 years. He and Todd Burtron, the city’s chief of staff and former Westfield fire chief, said the unfortunate accident was the first retention pond accident they can remember. The area in which the accident occurred has not been a problem for law enforcement in the past.

“We haven’t had major incidents in that area and that intersection,” Hollowell said.

Cottom’s fiancé, Allison Grant, said he was on his way to a friend’s house in the Sandpiper subdivision where she was going to meet him with their two children at the time of the accident. Cottom’s father, Steve, who said his son “was greatly loved and will be sorely missed,” would like to see safety barriers put up around retention ponds to save other families from the pain he is going through.

Sasha Cottom, 22, died April 6, at St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. He was born on June 22, 1990.

He worked for King Systems and also for Automated Business Solutions. He loved spending time with his daughters and playing basketball. He also loved playing on his PlayStation 3.

Survivors include his father, Steven (Oksana) Cottom; mother, Oksana (Raymundo Coyota) Cottom; daughters, Annalysa and Audrina Cottom; fiancé, Allison Grant; brother, Andrew; step-sisters, Alexandria Cottom and Anastasia Leinnik; stepbrother, John S. Cottom; uncle, Vladimir (Helen) Khimich; and grandparents, Vladimir and Nataliya Khimich.

Funeral services were last Thursday at Randall & Roberts Fishers Mortuary, 12010 Allisonville Rd., with burial at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Indianapolis.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a trust fund, set up for his daughters, through Huntington Bank in Westfield.

The hardest part for rescuers when dealing with retention ponds is the unknown. Burtron said many factors influence the pond’s depth including its width and how much water the pond is trying to shed.

“We don’t know if it’s six feet or 15 feet deep,” he said of rescue personnel responding to the scene.

Burtron said Sandpiper Lakes was built before 2006, when the city created construction standards for retention ponds. Before Cottom’s accident, the city had begun identifying older subdivisions to ensure proper barriers or distance from the road to prevent future accidents. Current standards require between 100 to 150 feet from streets to ponds depending on the roadway.

“We’re identifying where we should put guard rails,” he said, adding that the city owns the road but the homeowners association is responsible for the pond. “We have four slated for installation based on proximity to roadway and speed of roadway.”

A barrier in Sandpiper Lakes is planned to be in place within the next year.

Unfortunately, the barrier wasn’t there when Cottom’s vehicle entered the water, but four WPD officers were and they jumped into the 40-degree water after arriving on the scene, but were unable to reach the vehicle due to its depth and the water’s temperature.

“They tried to go in as quick as possible. Some lost personal items but they were focused on trying to save a life,” Hollowell said, adding the officers are not part of the dive team and did not have equipment or oxygen tanks.

Cottom, who was the only passenger in the vehicle, was removed nearly 45 minutes after the vehicle entered the pond and was airlifted to St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

“Initial thoughts are that Cottom died from drowning and/or hypothermia,” Hollowell said.

Hollowell said police are still looking into what caused the crash and if there was an equipment failure with the Jeep or if Cottom possibly overcorrected while making the turn. Hollowell said a blown tire is not believed to be a reason for the accident.

“Detectives are still looking. We want to get as much information as we can,” he said, adding an autopsy was performed but results take weeks to get back. “There were no initial indications of foul play. At this time, it is still unclear on what caused the vehicle to drive into the retention pond.”