Sentence Reduced for Man Who Caused Copter Crash

An Anaheim man who once faced 45 years in prison for a car theft that led to a fatal police helicopter collision may be free by October after pleading guilty to reduced charges, his attorney said Friday.

Vincent Michael Acosta, 24, pleaded guilty earlier this week to car theft and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. He was sentenced to nine years and four months on the charges, a far cry from the 45-year sentence he received in 1989 for his conviction on three counts of second-degree murder.

With the time he has served in prison, plus credit for good behavior, Acosta should be released from Folsom State Prison by October, according to Deputy Public Defender William Kelley, Acosta’s lawyer.

Last year, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled 2 to 1 that the murder conviction was not supported by the evidence, even though Acosta’s conduct in the incident may have been “despicable.”

Acosta, the appellate majority found, could not have foreseen the fatal incident, which began late on March 10, 1987, with Santa Ana police pursuing the stolen car Acosta was driving.

The 45-minute chase continued into Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach and then back to Acosta’s home in Anaheim. At times, Acosta reached speeds of 90 m.p.h., driving with the lights out and on the wrong side of the road.

Two police helicopters, one from Costa Mesa and another from Newport Beach, collided during the pursuit of Acosta, killing two police officers and a civilian observer.

Acosta was “very happy the case was reversed” by the appeals panel, Kelley said Friday. “I know he said a lot of prayers in jail. . . . He was very sorry about the deaths, but he was not out to kill anybody.”

On Jan. 15, Superior Court Judge William W. Bedsworth ruled that Acosta could not be retried for murder. However, Kelley said, had Acosta not pleaded guilty, he could have been retried on manslaughter charges that carried a maximum of 14 years in prison.