Bellingham man police believe ‘predatory in nature’ suspected of attempted rape, assault
A Bellingham man, who was arrested two years ago on suspicion of attempting to rape a woman, is suspected of assaulting and attempting to rape a woman he was familiar with on Monday.
The Bellingham Police Department booked Marcos Delgado Jr., 34, into Whatcom County Jail Monday, Oct. 18, on suspicion of second-degree assault and attempted second-degree rape. Jail records show Delgado is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Whatcom County Superior Court documents show Delgado pleaded guilty to a protection order violation from the 2019 incident, and rape and malicious mischief charges were dismissed. He was sentenced to 29 months in prison on Oct. 17, 2019.
But based on what police believe occurred in 2019 and again on Monday, Lt. Claudia Murphy wrote that Delgado “is predatory in nature and a danger to the community,” in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
At approximately 5:30 p.m. Monday, officers were called to take a report from the victim, who was known to Delgado, Murphy reported.
The victim reported on that morning, Delgado had driven them to an area she was not familiar with and parked, according to Murphy. Once parked, the victim reported that Delgado got in the back seat of the car and she heard him pulling his pants down.
The victim reported that she realized Delgado wanted to have sexual contact, and she refused, Murphy reported.
Delgado then reportedly grabbed the victim’s throat with enough force that she had difficulty breathing and her vision became blurry and attempted to force her to perform a sexual act on him, according to Murphy.
The victim reported she was able to escape and got herself to safety, according to Murphy, but police found her with injuries consistent with having been strangled.
In the 2019 incident, Delgado was arrested on suspicion of attempted third-degree rape, fourth-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment, violation of a protection order and third-degree malicious mischief.
According to Murphy’s report at the time: The victim reported Delgado had threatened to knock out all the windows of her car and her teeth, shoved the victim into a portable toilet and tried to get her to perform a sexual act on him. When she refused, Delgado reportedly hit her and continued to threaten her until the victim got away by convincing Delgado that the police were coming.
In addition to violating a protection order, court records show Delgado has convictions for escape and theft.
