An off-duty Costa Mesa police detective had been sending text messages after a night of drinking when he crashed into a concrete pillar, an accident that killed the veteran officer, according to authorities.

Det. Mike Delgadillo, 57, died after his 2000 Mazda crashed in an underpass beneath the 55 Freeway near Newport Boulevard and Bristol Street on March 5, according to the Orange County coroner’s report.

At the time of the crash, Delgadillo was not wearing a seat belt, according to Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman Kathy Lowe. The Newport Beach Police Department is handling the investigation.

Delgadillo had a 0.14 blood-alcohol level before he died, and Newport Beach officers determined he’d been drinking at Mi Casa restaurant between 5 and 8 p.m. and Skosh Monahan’s between 9 and 10 p.m. before the fatal crash, according to Lowe. Both restaurants are in Costa Mesa.


The primary cause of the crash was determined to be driving under the influence of alcohol, with making an unsafe turning movement as a contributing factor, Lowe said.

The Costa Mesa Police Department has been given the results of the investigation, Lowe said.

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