Suspect arrested in hit-and-run crash killing 81-year-old grandfather in Richmond, police say
RICHMOND, Calif. -- A suspect has been arrested one week after a hit-and-run that killed a local 81-year-old family man, Richmond Police said Monday.
On Aug. 23 around 8:30 p.m., Rafael Gutierrez Delgado was struck by a car while crossing 23rd Street at Hellings Avenue in Richmond. The driver of the car continued to drive until Delgado was thrown from the hood, then fled the scene without stopping. The car was found abandoned in Richmond two days later.
A 66 year-old Richmond resident, was arrested on Sunday by police following a weeklong investigation that identified him as the alleged owner of an abandoned car connected to the fatal hit-and-run.
The suspect was arrested leaving an apartment on the 400 block of Fourth Street in Richmond and later booked into Contra Costa County Jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, vehicular manslaughter and driving with a suspended license, police said.
He was known to police, who allege he has a "multiple-page rap sheet."
More than a dozen of Delgado's family members and loved ones joined Richmond Police for a press conference held at the department headquarters on Monday.
"My dad didn't deserve this," said his daughter, Lucia Delgado. "He was very loved by his community. He always gave."
Delgado would have turned 82 on Tuesday. Lucia Delgado thanked local restaurants and neighbors for their outpouring of support and for the care packages sent to the family home.
"The only thing I pray is that they feel in their conscience what we're feeling in our grief," Lucia said of the suspect.
"Senseless, horrible -- two words that define this," said Richmond Police Lt. Joseph England.
"Mr. Delgado was well known. His community has gone through a lot in the last two weeks. This community is suffering," he said, referring to a house fire killed a family of four in nearby central Richmond on Aug. 18.
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"What this family deserves, what this community deserves, that's the most important thing for us," he said.
The hit-and-run is still under investigation, police said.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The suspect has not been named because he has not been formally arraigned
