Ex-Marine charged in deaths of 2 in Hollywood police chase 'wasn't the same' after war, sister says
The 29-year-old John Marshall High graduate is accused of striking and killing 2 pedestrians along Hollywood Boulevard as police pursued him. His sister said he had nightmares after Afghanistan.
A motorist charged with two counts of murder for allegedly striking and killing two pedestrians as police pursued him along Hollywood Boulevard was a former Marine, a relative said.
A graduate of John Marshall High School, Sergio Delgado, 29, joined the Marines at 19, was stationed at Camp Pendleton and served in Afghanistan in 2001, said his sister, who asked not to be named when reached at her Los Angeles apartment.
Delgado married and had a son before he was discharged a few years ago, she said.
Crosswalk deaths: An article in Thursday's California section about the deaths of two pedestrians struck and killed in Hollywood by a driver fleeing police reported that an LAPD detective said no alcoholic containers were found in the driver's car. Police have since said that a bottle containing alcohol was found under one of the seats.
Delgado, who sometimes uses the name Delgado Valle, also faces two counts of felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and fleeing the scene after fatally hitting the man and woman.
"He was so intoxicated when he was arrested he had to be hospitalized," said Cmdr. Debra McCarthy of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Delgado, who was convicted of driving under the influence in 2003 and of illegally driving in a bus lane in 2006, was being held on $1-million bail.
Delgado was a changed man after he returned from serving overseas, his sister said. He had nightly nightmares, drank and argued with his wife. He refused to discuss his problems while he was sober until his wife left last year, and he sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, his sister said. He began taking medication and found a job in the San Fernando Valley at a mortgage brokerage firm. He recently moved closer to his job and was helping to care for his 5-year-old son, his sister said.
Delgado's sister said she had not spoken with her brother Tuesday, but had followed news about the crash. She said she felt sorry for what her brother might have done to the victims, but that he started out a good person before he joined the military.
"He does look like a monster, but we know who he is," she said. "When he came back from the war, he wasn't the same."
McCarthy said investigators are still trying to identify the victims and are particularly concerned that they may have children or other loved ones in Los Angeles.
Ed Winter, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office, said officials believe the man and woman lived in Los Angeles but their immediate families are in Mexico.
He said investigators have been attempting to contact the families through relatives who live in the Los Angeles area.
LAPD officials have insisted that an officer followed department policy Sunday night in pursuing Delgado.
