Huntington Beach Police Chief Eric Parra said Nicholas Vella, 44, died in the crash in Newport Beach.
An officer was killed and another seriously injured when a Police Department helicopter crashed in shallow water Saturday night in Newport Bay, southern California, police said.
Huntington Beach Police Chief Eric Parra said Saturday night that 44-year-old Nicolas Vella, who was injured in the crash, had died.
He said the department and the community had "lost an officer who was truly dedicated to his job."
Police said Vella, a 14-year-old veteran of the department, left behind his wife and daughter.
Officials said the second officer, whose identity has not been released, is hospitalized in a serious but stable condition.
According to police, the helicopter was responding to a report of a fight in Newport Beach when it crashed at 6:30 p.m.
The Newport Beach Fire Department said the two pilots aboard the helicopter were evacuated and taken to a trauma center.
Police did not release additional information about how the accident happened and said the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate.
"The helicopter crashed for reasons that we are not sure of," Parra said.
In a tweet, electronic dance music DJ Justin Martin said he witnessed the accident from a nearby boat.
He said in a tweet, "It was spinning out of control directly on us..crashed less than 150ft below our boat...still shaken by what we saw."
It was the second notable helicopter crash of the day. Three people were injured when a helicopter crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near Miami Beach on Saturday afternoon.
The South Florida accident was captured on video