Man facing deportation charged in deadly hit-and-run
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Felony charges have been filed against a man accused in a deadly March hit-and-run crash on South Division Avenue in Grand Rapids that was caught on a business surveillance camera.
Authorities say Luis Angel Otanez-Castillo, in the U.S. illegally, has likely fled the area. He’s accused of hitting a pedestrian on South Division Avenue shortly after leaving a bar.
“He is not in custody; we don’t know where he is at,” Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said. “There is speculation he may have fled the state.’’
A felony complaint filed this week charges Otanez-Castillo with reckless driving causing death and failing to stop at the scene of an accident when at fault, resulting in death. Both are 15-year felonies.
Police say a damaged Honda Pilot, located at a Wyoming repair shop, contained a deportation order bearing Otanez-Castillo’s name. He told the shop owner he hit a deer, court records show.
GRPD identifies man killed in hit-and-run
The vehicle that struck and killed 53-year-old Roberto Delgado was likely traveling between 66 and 70 mph just before impact, court records show. The speed at impact was around 45 mph; the posted speed limit is 30 mph.
The driver “fled at a high rate of speed, showing no signs of slowing down,” a Grand Rapids officer wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “At no point did the driver attempt to stop and render aid or identify himself.”
Police responded the morning of March 10 to a report of a pedestrian lying in the roadway on South Division near Kirtland Street SW.
Delgado was pronounced dead at the scene. There were no witnesses, and there was no indication of what struck Delgado, except for pieces of a headlamp left behind, court records show.
Investigators determined the vehicle was a 2006-08 Honda Pilot, based on recovered debris. Surveillance video from Division and Kirkland Street SW shows Delgado entering the crosswalk moments before being struck by a northbound vehicle.
Video shows deadly hit-and-run crash in Grand Rapids
A horn can be heard in the video, and Delgado looks south. “The video shows (Delgado) attempt to avoid the oncoming vehicle, but it struck regardless,’’ a detective wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
Delgado “bounces off the hood of the car, hits the windshield and is thrown 115 feet before coming to rest,’’ court records show. “The vehicle can be seen fleeing north on Division. At and before impact, the vehicle appeared to be driving at a high rate of speed.’’
Police obtained video from other businesses, including video prior to the crash.
Video from Le Petit Chateau, a sports bar and restaurant on Division Avenue north of 28th Street, showed a man wearing a distinct blue jacket drinking at the bar and getting into a Honda a few minutes before the crash, court records show.
Tips from the public indicated the fleeing driver as a Dominican immigrant who was last seen driving a dark green Honda Pilot, court records show. The tipster also indicated the man worked at a Wyoming auto detailing business.
Police found a 2006 Honda Pilot at the business that had been partially repaired, “including the driver side headlamp, the front driver side quarter panel and the windshield,’’ according to the probable cause affidavit.
The hood to the Honda had been removed but was stored at the shop; damage to the hood was consistent with hitting a pedestrian, records show.
A search of the vehicle turned up a document from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It was a deportation order for Otanez-Castillo “to be sent back to the Dominican Republic,” records show.
ICE provided Grand Rapids police a detention booking photo of Otanez-Castillo, which “was a positive match to the individual seen in the bar and entering the Honda Pilot,” records show.
“Based on this information, your affiant had probable cause to believe that Luis Otanez-Castillo was the driver of the Honda Pilot that hit and killed Roberto Delgado,” records show.
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