Westland man drowns in Belleville Lake during Saturday night swim

The body of Richard Edwin Johnson, 61, of Westland was pulled from Belleville Lake by the Van Buren Township Dive Team at about 9 p.m. Saturday near Horizon Park.
VBT Detective Donovan McCarthy said officers interviewed people on the boat and others with him to get the story of what happened.
He said Johnson and friends were taking Johnon’s boat for a first spin on the lake after it had been repaired.
They had been moored just off Fireworks Island and hadn’t been on the island, Det. McCarthy said.
They were 40-50 feet off the east side of the island when two of his guests jumped in the water for a swim. When they got back on the boat, Johnson decided to go for a swim and dived head first into the water and swam away from the boat.
Det. McCarthy said they reported Johnson appeared to get fatigued, so one of his guests threw him a life jacket, but he was unable to reach it because of the wind and current.
At that point the boat was not anchored and was drifting, McCarthy said.
The guest in the water was helped by a different boat and they called 9-1-1.
Fire Chief Amy Brow said when Johnson didn’t surface at about 7:30 p.m., they called 9-1-1 and, after about an hour and a half of searching, the dive team recovered him using sonar.
They launched the boat into the water after 5 p.m., McCarthy said.
He said there were no alcohol containers in the boat and there is no reason to believe alcohol was involved. An autopsy and chemical tests will take about four weeks, he said.
High Street in Belleville was blocked off for the recovery operations and people watched the efforts from Horizon Park, according to reports.