A Marine gunnery sergeant was arrested in North Carolina after allegedly driving while impaired by alcohol and fatally striking a teenager riding on a scooter.
Jacksonville, North Carolina, police say that Gunnery Sgt. Ismaldo Alberto Sanchez, 35, crashed into a 16-year-old boy who was trying to make a right turn into his own driveway on the Saturday afternoon of Oct. 1. The boy didn’t regain consciousness and was declared dead at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
The incident happened around 3:15 p.m. on Winchester Road in the Brynn Marr area of the city, WITN reported. According to the arrest report, that is the same street Sanchez lives on.
Following an investigation by the Jacksonville, North Carolina, police traffic division, Sanchez was arrested later that day, according to police department spokeswoman Sarah Sinese. Sanchez was charged with felony death by motor vehicle and driving while impaired, Sinese said.
On Oct. 25, police first publicly identified Sanchez as the person they had arrested in connection with the crash, local news station WITN reported.
Before his arrest, Sanchez was a network chief with the 2nd Marine Division, according to 1st Lt. Mark Grill, a spokesman for the division. Grill said that Sanchez was removed from his network chief billet and is now working in the division’s operations section.
“Any loss of life, regardless of circumstance, is a tragedy,” Grill wrote in a statement to Marine Corps Times. “2d Marine Division has cooperated with, and will remain engaged with local and state authorities throughout their prosecution of the case.”
Since entering the Marine Corps in January 2008, Sanchez has racked up 19 awards and decorations, according to 2nd Lt Kevaughn U. Burney.
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His awards include two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, four Marine Corps Good Conduct Medals, five Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, the Navy Arctic Service Ribbon, Marine Corps Drill Instructor Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO Medal, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, Humanitarian Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
Sanchez was one of the enlisted Marines selected in 2022 for an appointment to warrant officer, an August MARADMIN message had announced.
Sanchez could not be reached by phone for comment.
He was released on an unsecured bond on Oct. 4, the Onslow County magistrate’s office told Marine Corps Times.
Sanchez’s trial is set for Dec. 14 in Jacksonville, North Carolina, according to the arrest report.
Irene Loewenson is a staff reporter for Marine Corps Times. She joined Military Times as an editorial fellow in August 2022. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.
