North Hills : Coroner Investigating Death of Scuba Diver
The county coroner’s office is looking into the death of a North Hills man who died Sunday while diving off Catalina Island with his 17-year-old son.
Mark Steven Hopkins, 44, had become entangled in seaweed off Lion’s Head Point at about 6 p.m. when he signaled his son that he was having trouble breathing. After two attempts to cut his father free, the son returned to the surface to call for help, according to sheriff’s reports.
When the youth went under water again, he was unable to find his father.
A nearby diving boat, the Warlock, dispatched a diving team, which found the man after two dives.
Hopkins was taken to USC’s hyperbaric chamber in Catalina but was pronounced dead at 6:52 p.m, according to Deputy Carrie Stuart of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Hopkins received his diving certification in 1977 but only recently began diving frequently, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The coroner’s office plans an autopsy to determine why he had difficulty breathing.
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