The man, who police declined to identify pending notification of relatives, weighed more that 300 pounds and was wedged with his head and shoulders underwater in a vertical storm drain in front of his home, said Lt. Tim Eirich of the Sheboygan Police Department.

Neighbor Chris Van Erem said he saw the man kneeling over the sewer before he fell in. Police said the man pulled the iron gate off trying to get the cell phone.

"I didn't know if he had dropped something or what," said Van Erem, who was mowing his lawn at the time. "So I went about my business and moved back to a spot where I was further back in the yard."

Moments later, a child from the neighborhood ran toward Van Erem frantically.

"When I shut off the lawnmower and looked up, I saw the neighbor's feet sticking up out of the grate, and I ran over and tried to pull him on out," Van Erem said. "Absolutely helpless was the feeling. I couldn't budge him."

Van Erem had the child call 911 as he continued to try to free the man, but he was unsuccessful.

"I could see his head and his shoulders were completely under the water," he said. "His legs weren't moving. He was completely unresponsive."

Van Erem said it ultimately took six firefighters to pull the man from the sewer. Sheboygan County Coroner David Leffin ruled the man's death as an accidental drowning.

"Earlier we were talking and someone had called him on his cell phone, so I had gone back to mowing my lawn," he said. "We'd been talking about a promotion at work, an edger he was getting, all sorts of different little things."

Lt. Jeff Johnston said the man's cell phone was later found at the bottom of the sewer.