N. Hollywood Man Dies After Scuba Incident
A North Hollywood man who passed out after he surfaced from the ocean without his scuba diving mask died early Tuesday at a treatment facility on Catalina Island.
Rufus Perrison, 24, was pronounced dead just after midnight, said Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
The accident occurred about 11 a.m. Sunday, according to Sgt. Gary Olson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Avalon station.
Perrison was scuba diving with friends off the south side of the island, authorities said. He was at a depth of about 160 feet when he suddenly began to ascend rapidly, witnesses told authorities. He reached the surface without his mask and collapsed.
U.S. Coast Guard personnel took him to a hyperbaric chamber at a specialized facility on the island, where he remained until he died.
The case was under routine investigation by Sheriff’s Department deputies, Olson said.
The coroner’s office had not yet determined the cause of death.
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