On Wednesday, a man from Southern California was sentenced of second-degree murder after hitting to death a Mission Viejo, California fire captain in November 2018 when he was under the influence of drugs.
City News Service cited prosecutors in a report saying the 28-year-old suspect, Stephan Taylor Scarpa, was under the influence of fentanyl, downers, methamphetamine, and stimulants when he went on a drive on the sidewalk but turned unconscious, and hit 44-year-old Costa Mesa Fire Department Captain Mike Kreza.
The fire captain, during that time, was riding his bike while traversing the Alicia Parkway in Orange County.
The victim did not survive the accident and died a couple of days in the hospital. He left behind three children.
“The victim in this case mattered,” part of the statement of District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, based on the Orange County Register. “He mattered to his loved ones, his co-workers at the Costa Mesa Fire Department, the community he served, and he mattered to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Mike Kreza is not a statistic. He was a husband and he was a father to three little girls who have to grow up without him. No child should have to be told that their daddy isn’t coming home because of the selfish decision of someone to get behind the wheel while under the influence.”
The newspaper reported that the suspect faces murder charge instead of vehicular manslaughter. This, as the prosecution said that there was an “implied malice” with his neglect of another person’s life, Fox News reported.
“If you get so high you pass out behind the wheel and kill someone, you end up exactly where Mr. Scarpa is sitting,” noted Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman during the trial. The news service also defined the suspect to have a “drug cabinet” in his body.
