The Florida man who allegedly stole a small San Mateo County plane and crash landed it in Half Moon Bay last Thursday made some unusual requests when he appeared in court Tuesday.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said 50-year-old Luis Aires, who told the court he goes by Sunrock, apparently cut through the wire fence around the Palo Alto Airport and hopped in a plane and took off.
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WATCH HERE“I don't want no one to represent me, I want to do it by myself,” said Aires, refusing to have a court-appointed attorney.
The county commissioner denied that request, saying she did not find Aires was qualified to represent himself in court.
He faces charges of airplane theft, with a maximum prison sentence of three years.
Wagstaffe said Aires, who is listed as a Miami resident, has no known criminal record. And that Aires told authorities he had a pilot license from his home country of Brazil.
“I don't doubt that because I couldn't go to Palo Alto Airport, get in a plane, and start flying it anywhere. So he probably did have that experience,” said Wagstaffe.
Police said Aires flew the single-engine plane 24 miles, before crash landing in the sand near Poplar Beach Thursday evening.
He walked away, and nobody on the ground was injured.
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SIGN UP “You always wonder what was the game plan? You're not talking about someone who could have flown to Hawaii, flown to Mexico, certainly didn't have the ability to do that, and you're wondering what was in this man's head?” said Wagstaffe. “And that's still a mystery.”
Aires pled not guilty and is being represented by a court-appointed private attorney.
