Coroner's Finding: Hartung, Herbert August
Deceased
Herbert August Hartung
Demographics
54y, male
Date of death
2022-08-04
Finding date
2025-04-17
Cause of death
drowning
AI-generated summary
A 54-year-old man with chronic alcoholism drowned after driving his car into the sea at a boat ramp while extremely intoxicated. After spending several hours drinking with another visitor, he drove his vehicle partially into the water, reversed onto a rock embankment, then drove back into the water 13 minutes later. He was unable to escape the submerged vehicle. The coroner concluded this was an accident rather than intentional suicide, finding insufficient evidence of suicidal intent despite the deceased's history of alcoholism, relationship breakdown, and recent social isolation. The death highlights risks associated with severe intoxication impairing judgment and motor control in vulnerable individuals with alcohol dependence.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- extreme alcohol intoxication (blood alcohol concentration 0.42%)
- chronic alcoholism
- impaired judgment and motor control due to alcohol
- inability to escape from submerged vehicle
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