One witness says he believes Thomas Hoggs Jr. might be alive had lifeguards responded more quickly.

"Quite frankly, I've done CPR enough times that I think the guy had a chance of living," said Travis Shiflett, 21, a former Mainland firefighter and certified emergency medical technician who is now in the Coast Guard.

Shiflett, who saw the incident, said lifeguards seemed unmotivated in rescuing Hoggs and were "flustered" once they got him to shore.

Following an autopsy on Monday, the Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office issued preliminary findings that Hoggs, 45, died of "asphyxia due to drowning" at 5:05 p.m. Dec. 17. The death was listed as an accident.

But Tamara Hoggs, who was in Hawai'i with her husband and family to attend the University of Hawai'i graduation of their daughter, said that based on what witnesses have said, lifeguards were cavalier even as her husband was screaming for help.

She says they wasted valuable moments instructing Hoggs to swim towards the lifeguard tower, as if "they didn't want to get their feet wet."

"They just took too long to get there," said Tamara Hoggs, who was farther down the beach and didn't know what was happening until her husband was hauled from the water unconscious.

She said her two sons and nephew had been playing in the water close to shore with her husband when a wave or rip current apparently carried him farther out to sea.

She said after arriving at the scene with her sister, Candy Hilder, a San Francisco police officer, lifeguards pushed her away and wouldn't allow her to approach her husband.

Later, witnesses told her lifeguards seemed reluctant to go in after Hoggs, a 6-foot-6 Alameda County Deputy Sheriff, fitness buff and strong swimmer — even as he yelled for help some 30 to 40 yards off shore.

On Dec. 17 at Sunset Beach, waves were 6 to 8 feet and the waters were hazardous, which is not unusual for this time of year, said Howe. Although "No Swimming" and "Strong Current" signs had been posted in a number of places on the beach as well as the parking lot, he said people continued to enter the water.

Lifeguards reported that they had warned a number of people to come in to shore because of hazardous conditions. When Hoggs failed to respond to calls to swim toward the tower, they went in after him.

They said he seemed OK when they reached him, but was unconscious by the time they got him to shore.

Shiflett said he noticed Hoggs was having difficulty in the water. He said lifeguards repeatedly instructed Hoggs to swim toward the tower. But Hoggs continued to thrash about.

"And then one of the lifeguards came down to the water on a four-wheeler and the guy (Hoggs) started screaming for help, over and over ... and waving his arms back and forth," said Shiflett.

As Hoggs continued to call for help, Shiflett said the lifeguard slowly took out his fins, sat down, put them on and "very calmly walked down to the water's edge like nothing was going on."

He said the lifeguard was joined by another and together they swam toward Hoggs. Shiflett said by the time they reached Hoggs he was no longer waving, just bobbing.

Howe said that according to standard procedures, three lifeguards were stationed at the beach when Hoggs called for help. Two lifeguards pulled Hoggs from the water while the third brought in the necessary equipment and contacted Emergency Medical Services, also according to procedure.

While waiting for EMS to arrive, lifeguards performed standard emergency resuscitation measures on Hoggs. The three lifeguards were backed up by three other lifeguards who arrived on the scene, Howe said.

Shiflett said lifeguards were confused and anxious while trying to revive Hoggs. Hilder added that they appeared frustrated because they were unable to get a piece of equipment to function.

"It's a little difficult when we're getting messages third- and fourth-hand," said Howe. "At this point we can't come to any conclusions because we don't feel that we have all the facts."

Howe said witnesses such as Shiflett can assist in the investigation by contacting him to give their account of what happened.

"We need to gather all the facts, and we're in the process of doing that. We're terribly sorry this happened. We send our condolences to the family."

According to state Health Department statistics, 65 people had drowned in Hawai'i as of Nov. 19.

Meanwhile, Hoggs' colleagues at the Alameda Sheriff's Department have been saddened by the loss of their friend.

"We have a thousand deputy sheriffs, and we're all in mourning," said Lt. Jim Knudsen. "Tom was one of our favorites. He was very quiet and very well-liked. We called him the gentle giant."