A key stretch of Beach Boulevard that leads residents and visitors to the shore has now also become a tribute to a Huntington Beach police helicopter pilot who died while on duty.
Huntington Beach police officer Nicholas Vella, 44, a 14-year veteran of the city’s police force, died a year ago this month when the helicopter he was in crashed into the waters just off the southern tip of the Lido Peninsula in Newport Harbor, the crew reported mechanical issues just before the crash. The helicopter’s pilot at the time was injured.
State Sen. Janet Nguyen championed the legislation that designated State Highway Route 39 from Pacific Coast Highway, where Saturday’s dedication ceremony was held, to Talbert Avenue as the Officer Nicholas Vella Memorial Highway. It’s about three miles of Beach Boulevard.
“Nick loved people and had a servant’s heart. That led him to what he did,” said Officer Mark Wersching of the Huntington Beach Police Officers Association, who also worked as a co-pilot with Vella.
Wersching described Vella’s love for his family, his wife, Kristi, with whom he loved to travel, and his daughter, Dylan, whom he would FaceTime while flying up the coast during sunsets to share the beauty with her.
“Nick was a consummate gentleman,” a trait he got from his father, Wersching said. “Nick was kind. That he got that from his mother, Marcy.”
His parents broke down and embraced each other and their other son, John, as Vella was remembered during Saturday’s ceremony.
Before his 14 years serving Huntington Beach, Vella had been with the nearby Laguna Beach Police Department for four years. The helicopter crash happened as the officers were responding to provide air support for a disturbance call in Newport Beach.
Police officers from several departments, local leaders and Vella’s family and friends attended Saturday’s ceremony at the corner of Beach and PCH.
A helicopter flyover and an Orange County Deputy Sheriffs Association Pipe…
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