Drug Dealer Gets 15-Year Term in Death of Man During Police Chase

A 27-year-old Costa Mesa resident who led police on a high-speed freeway chase that resulted in the death of a young Anaheim man was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in prison after he pleaded for forgiveness from the victim’s parents.

“I’m sorry; please forgive me,” Luis C. Escobar, a convicted drug dealer, said to John and Marietta Vaca of La Puente. “If you can give me that peace of mind, it will help me along the way; I’ve got a long, hard road ahead of me.”

Escobar was convicted of second-degree murder two months ago in the Jan. 9, 1986, death of David J. Vaca, a 23-year-old insurance salesman.

Shortly before Vaca’s death, Escobar and an accomplice tried to sell a kilogram of cocaine for $40,000 to state undercover agents at an Anaheim restaurant parking lot. When Escobar realized they were police officers, he fled in his Jaguar onto the northbound Santa Ana Freeway at speeds estimated in excess of 100 m.p.h.

The Jaguar left the freeway at the Lincoln Avenue exit and slammed into Vaca’s parked car.

The murder charge filed against Escobar was similar to charges filed against an Anaheim man who led police on a high-speed chase last Thursday that resulted in the deaths of three people when a Costa Mesa police helicopter crashed, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas M. Goethals, who prosecuted Escobar.

In vehicular fatalities, a defendant charged with second-degree murder is accused of “implied malice,” meaning he had a reckless disregard for human life and knew his act was life-threatening, according to the state penal code.

Escobar was also convicted of two counts of selling cocaine and one count of conspiracy to sell. Orange County Superior Court Judge Leonard Goldstein sentenced Escobar to five years on those counts, but ordered that the sentence run concurrently with his murder sentence.

Before the sentence, Escobar made a long, rambling speech to both the judge and the Vacas in which he claimed responsibility for the death but defended his actions.

“I did not know it was the police chasing me,” Escobar insisted. He also said he thought that whoever was chasing him had stopped before he reached the off-ramp and that he was not running from anyone when he left the freeway.

Escobar also said, while fighting back tears, that “I’m not a violent person; I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

Looking directly at the Vacas, who sat in the front of the courtroom, he told them he was aware that David Vaca was “a good, kind and loving person. But believe me, it was an accident.”

The victim’s father said later that when Escobar looked at them and spoke, his only feelings were for his son.

Convicted in 1982

“He would have been 25 on Wednesday,” Vaca said. “I’m just glad this is over.”

Marietta Vaca said her reaction was that Escobar’s speech came a little late, since he had not testified at his own trial about what happened. Asked if she thought Escobar was sincere, she said, “I’m sure he is sincere in wanting to save his own skin.”

Escobar, whose own parents were killed in a traffic accident, was convicted in 1982 of conspiracy to sell cocaine and served two years in federal prison.

Goethals said later that there were too many witnesses to the high-speed chase to believe Escobar’s claim that he was unaware that police were after him. Also, Goethals said, the witnesses saw Escobar continue at a high speed when he reached the Lincoln off-ramp, which is inconsistent with his claim that the chase had ended.