People v. Acosta

Facts

At 10 p.m. on March 10, 1987, Officers Salceda and Francis of the Santa Ana Police Department’s automobile theft detail saw Acosta in Elvira Salazar’s stolen Nissan Pulsar parked on the street. During the chase, Acosta ran stop signs and red lights, and drove on the wrong side of streets, causing oncoming traffic to scatter or swerve to avoid colliding with him. At the direction of the Costa Mesa pilot, the Newport Beach helicopter moved forward and descended while the Costa Mesa helicopter banked to the right. Shortly after commencing this procedure, the Costa 320Mesa helicopter, having terminated radio communication, came up under the Newport Beach helicopter from the right rear and collided with it. Both helicopters fell to the ground. Three occupants in the Costa Mesa helicopter died as a result of the crash. Menzies Turner, a retired Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigator, testified as an expert and concluded the accident occurred because the Costa Mesa helicopter, the faster of the two aircraft, made a 360-degree turn and closed too rapidly on the Newport Beach helicopter. He opined the Costa Mesa helicopter’s pilot violated an FAA regulation prohibiting careless and reckless operation of an aircraft by failing to properly clear the area.