Man Convicted in Shootout in 1992 to Serve Time at CYA

A 19-year-old man, convicted for his role in a 1992 shootout in Huntington Beach that left three people wounded, has been sentenced to more than 15 years in the California Youth Authority.

But Aerick William Bacon will be eligible for release by the time he is 23 and must be released from CYA by age 25, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Bacon was convicted in May of attempted murder of an Orange County sheriff’s deputy, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery. Bacon was a minor at the time of the crime but was ordered to stand trial as an adult and was eligible to be sentenced to state prison.

Authorities said the shootout took place Nov. 7, 1992, when a deputy approached four youths sitting in a car, planning a robbery in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve parking lot. Bacon and another youth opened fire on the deputy, who retreated behind his car door but was hit in the face by glass and metal fragments.

As the suspects fled down the Pacific Coast Highway toward Huntington Beach and fired indiscriminately at bystanders, another man’s car was hit and glass fragments became embedded in his head.

In Huntington Beach, Bacon and another assailant took refuge in a condominium complex. A man who resisted handing over his car keys to the fugitives was shot.

Ryan Mones, 17, of Huntington Beach, committed suicide at the complex rather than face arrest.

Keith Gonzalez, 20, of Garden Grove was convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted murder and assault. The fourth man, Travis Claude, 20, of Long Beach, pleaded guilty and testified against his accomplices.