9 Investigates learned an Eatonville Police officer, who was called a hero after pulling Pulse survivor Angel Colon to safety during the June 2016 attack, is now being let go from his department.
Investigative Reporter Karla Ray obtained a town resolution that is being voted on during an upcoming meeting, that would pay out some of officer Omar Delgado’s accrued sick time. It states that his last day will be December 31.
No one from the town would comment on the reason for separation, but Delgado told 9 Investigates he believes he’s being pushed out due to his PTSD. He admits that an evaluation showed he was unfit for duty, and the town will not allow him to stay on light duty.
Delgado has been with the department for nine and a half years, putting him just shy of the tenure he needs to receive retirement benefits from the town.
9 Investigates was there when Delgado and Colon met for the first time, as Colon was recovering in the hospital. He was shot six times by Omar Mateen during the terror attack.
“I was able to save Angel, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but now I suffer through my agony,” Delgado told Ray about his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Delgado says he has suffered from PTSD for the last year and a half, having nightmares and flashbacks.
“This has taken over myself, and there's no remedy. I wish there was a magical pill I could take, but there isn’t,” Delgado said.
Delgado claims his department has now deemed him unfit for duty. On Monday, he was told he would be let go at the end of the month.
“I guess I’m being punished, because I did cry for help,” Delgado said.
When 9 Investigates tried to ask why Delgado was being let go, his deputy chief declined to comment. Top brass at the department said off camera that the document 9 Investigates obtained should not have included Delgado’s name.
The department only has around a dozen officers, and Delgado suspects the town cannot afford to keep an officer off the street.
“What do I do now? I've been an officer almost 10 years, and it's all I've loved and known how to do, and now that it's foreseen that I can't do that anymore it's a shock to me,” Delgado said.
9 Investigates requested Delgado’s personnel file, but hasn't received it yet.
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