Hawaiʻi Police Department
Traffic Enforcement Unit
Sergeant Christopher D. Gali
Phone: 961-2232
May 31, 2011
Report No. C11014204
Media Release
A 22-year-old California woman died Monday (May 30) from injuries she sustained in a one-vehicle crash on the Rubbish Dump Road at the Hilo landfill on Sunday (May 29).
The victim was identified as Christina L. Delgado of Santa Cruz, California.
Responding to a 1:35 p.m. call, south Hilo patrol officers determined that a 26-year-old Keaʻau man had been operating a blue 1992 Toyota SR-5 pickup truck and traveling south on the Rubbish Dump Road when he lost control, ran off the left side of the road and dropped about 50 feet down an old rock quarry.
The truck landed on its roof and pinned his female passenger inside.
The driver was able to free himself from the vehicle and go for help.
Fire Department personnel extricated the woman from the vehicle and took her to Hilo Medical Center. She was later flown to The Queen’s Medical Center, where she died at 7:45 p.m. Monday (May 30).
The driver of the vehicle, Marco A. Delgado, is the brother of the victim. He was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant, negligent injury and having no insurance. He was released pending further investigation, as he was confined at Hilo Medical Center due to his injuries.
Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have reclassified the negligent injury case to a negligent homicide investigation. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.
Police ask that any witnesses who saw the vehicle at the Hilo Drag Strip prior to the crash call Officer Andres Fojas at 961-8889.
Because this crash occurred on a private road, the death is not counted toward the island’s traffic fatality count.
