Man drowned at dog park may be suicide

ST. PETERSBURG — A 34-year-old man drowned in a lake near Walter Fuller Dog Park on Tuesday afternoon in what police are calling a possible suicide.

Bret Cala was walking with his mother and a dog when he told her he wanted to go swimming with the dog, police said. Cala’s mother tried to talk him out of the idea and took the dog. But Cala dove into the water near 7891 26th Ave. N, police said.

When he didn’t surface, his mother called authorities. Cala was in cardiac arrest when he was pulled from the water, and later pronounced dead at St. Petersburg General Hospital.

-- Abhi Raghunathan, Times Staff Writer