An Oak Harbor man is accused of driving drunk, hitting a pedestrian and backing into a house on North Whidbey last year, according to court documents.

Police allege that the driver, 51-year-old Elisha P. Delacruz, delayed the investigation by falsely claiming that he was the passenger and then walking away from the scene.

Prosecutors charged Delacruz in Island County Superior Court Aug. 8 with vehicular assault and obstructing a law enforcement officer.

On Aug. 14, 2024, deputies with the Island County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report that a vehicle drove into a house on Northgate Drive.

Two witnesses reported to deputies that the vehicle was traveling fast and struck a tree near an intersection. A resident ran to help the occupants, but the vehicle backed up and struck him, a deputy wrote in a report. The vehicle continued backing up and went through a chain link fence and then into a house, the deputy wrote.

The two residents of the house were outside smoking at the time and saw the accident. One of them was the man who was struck by the vehicle. He suffered a head wound and was transported to the hospital for treatment.

Delacruz and a woman were sitting on the grass when deputies arrived at the scene. They are both described in police reports as being very intoxicated. The woman initially told deputies that she had been driving the vehicle. Delacruz agreed. The woman suffered several “medical episodes” and asked Delacruz to come in the ambulance with her. Instead, he walked off during the “chaos of the scene,” the deputy wrote.

While investigating the incident, deputies spoke to three witnesses who said Delacruz was the driver and had frantically gotten out of the vehicle after the crash, the deputy’s report states. The female occupant later admitted that she hadn’t driven the vehicle, according to the report.

The deputies went to Delacruz’s home to find him, but he wasn’t there. They then obtained a warrant, returned and found him inside the house; he still appeared intoxicated and was covered in vomit, the report states.

Investigators also obtained a warrant to draw Delacruz’s blood for testing.

On July 17, 2025, the sheriff’s office received a report from the state toxicology lab which showed Delacruz’s blood-alcohol level was 0.23 at the time the blood was drawn, which was hours after the accident, the report states. That’s nearly three times the legal limit for driving of 0.08.