Man who killed off-duty Costa Mesa fire captain in DUI collision to serve 15 to life
A Mission Viejo man was sentenced Friday to serve 15 years to life in prison for the death of off-duty Costa Mesa fire Capt. Mike Kreza following a 2018 vehicle collision that occurred while the driver was under the influence of narcotics.
Stephen Taylor Scarpa, 28, was convicted of one felony count of second-degree murder in September, when a jury found him guilty in the Nov. 5, 2018, death of Kreza, a 44-year-old Rancho Santa Margarita resident and father of three daughters.
Kreza, who’d served 18 years with Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue, had been riding his bicycle on Alicia Parkway in Mission Viejo the morning of Nov. 3, when a van driven by Scarpa drove off the road near Via Burgos, crossed over a bike lane and sidewalk and up onto an embankment, striking him.
Then 25, Scarpa had been driving home from a party in Westminster, at which he’d taken unprescribed “downers” lorazepam and benzodiazepines and reportedly hadn’t slept for two days, according to testimony given in court.
Although defense attorney Rudolph Loewenstein attempted to paint a picture of a man who thought he was OK to drive and had nearly reached his destination when the collision occurred, a jury on Sept. 8 delivered a guilty verdict after less than three hours of deliberation over two days.
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said Friday in a release announcing Scarpa’s sentencing that the defendant, having participated in the “Every 15 Minutes” police program — during which students reenact the dangers of impaired driving — was fully aware of the deadly consequences of driving under the influence.
“Nothing will bring Mike back, but I can only hope that his story — and the pain his family has to live with every day — prevents someone from making the same deadly decision to get behind the wheel while drunk or high on drugs.”
Did Stephen Taylor Scarpa act with malice on Nov. 3, 2018 when, not having slept for days and with drugs in his system, he drove home from a party? Attorneys presented two answers in opening remarks Monday.
Kreza’s wife, Shanna, the couple’s three daughters and his sister, Rachel Kreza, each gave victim impact statements in a Santa Ana courtroom Friday, court documents indicate. The family members described how their lives had been devastated by the loss, according to the district attorney’s release.
His youngest daughter said she began taking a teddy bear with her to school to comfort her until she got better but told the court she never did get better, it read.
Judge Patrick Donahue delivered Scarpa’s sentence, indicating that probation would be denied and ordering him to appear in a Jan. 7 firearms relinquishment hearing, court records indicate.
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