Man dies after car crashes into north Raleigh lake, police say

A Raleigh man whose car crashed into a lake Thursday morning has died, police said.

Raleigh police were called to Northshore Lake off New Hope Church Road shortly before 10 a.m. about a car running down an embankment and into the water. When they arrived, they found a 2016 Cadillac owned by Robert Lee Sparks upside down in the water, a police department accident report said.

Investigators say Sparks suffered a medical emergency while driving northwest on New Hope Church Road. It caused him to lose control of his car and jump a curb at Deana Lane, police say. The car, which investigators estimated to be traveling 70 mph, careened through a small parking lot and went airborne before landing in the lake and flipping onto its roof, the report said.

Sparks was rescued and taken to the hospital where he later died, police said.

The wreck remains under investigation.

This story was originally published April 25, 2019 at 10:22 PM.