A little more than two years after Officer Nicholas Vella was killed in a police helicopter crash, the late Huntington Beach officer’s service to his community was honored Friday.
A helicopter flyover accompanied the unveiling of the new Officer Nicholas Vella Memorial Highway sign on Beach Boulevard, near the Pacific Coast Highway. Huntington Beach Police Chaplain Roger Wing delivered a eulogy.
A 14-year veteran of the police force, Vella was killed when the helicopter he was in crashed near the Lido Peninsula in Newport Harbor on Feb. 19, 2022, on a call to assist Newport Beach police. The helicopter’s pilot was injured.
Vella was 44 years old and left behind a wife and daughter.
About three miles of Beach Boulevard, from Pacific Coast Highway to Talbert Avenue, is now the Officer Nicholas Vella Memorial Highway, dedicated as such last year.
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