Dave Elliott

Dave was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. For the first several years of his life he moved around to foster homes and lived with his Paternal Grandfather. In 1948 Dave and his sister moved to Newport to live with his mother. She was living at 1527 W. Balboa Blvd. with Dave’s eventual stepfather, Curly. He attended Newport Elementary School. Dave said his stepfather was a gambler who plied his trade at the Elk’s club in Newport and at a bowling alley in Huntington Beach.

Dave said there weren’t a lot of houses on W. Balboa at that time. At that time you could buy an ocean front lot for $2000. Dave used to play on the Red Car tracks on W. Bal and in the WWII Army bunkers on Cliff Dr. He went to various schools including Newport Harbor High and graduated from Santa Ana High. Dave went on to get his bachelor’s degree at Long Beach State. Dave’s career with Newport PD started in 1964. He was working as a carpenter and work was slow so he went to the CA Department of Employment where a retired L. A. Fire captain told him to go to NBPD if he was looking for a job. The Fire Captain advised Dave that the PD had just hired a new chief (Glavas) and said he was great. Dave went to the PD and was interviewed by Chief Glavas and hired on the spot. Dave attended the LAPD academy. Dave worked Patrol for 2 ½ years and then was assigned the Felony Unit. He also worked Beach Patrol during the time of the replenishing of the beach sand. In 1968 Dave went to Detectives and worked with Hal Sheflin and Willie Spears. He worked Auto Theft/Burglary with Ed Rudd during his Detective assignment. Dave went back to patrol in 1973 and was promoted to Sergeant that year. Shortly after he was promoted, he moved to the new PD where he was assigned to Traffic and worked with Captain Don Oyaas and Sergeants Rick Miller and Tom Shearn. When Dave went back to Patrol in 1978, everyone was working Porsche cases. Several Porsches had been stolen in Newport and all over the rest of the County. One night around 3 AM, Dave was patrolling around the Oakwood apartments when he saw a guy run across the street into a parking lot and then disappear. Dave went out on foot and found the guy hiding in a pickup truck. After questioning the suspect, Dave was able to get enough information to tie him to the Porsche thefts. Later that night 1 or 2 more suspects were located in the area. From prior information the Detectives knew the cars were being taken to an area by the airport. The area was checked, which led to the recovery of several Porsches. Dave went into the Helicopter program as a Sgt. and became Pilot/Supervisor until 1987 when he went into the Professional Standards Unit working under Lt. Gary Petersen and then under Lt. Tim Newman. In 1986 Dave was attending a conference at Cardiff by the Sea in San Diego. He was working out of the Chief’s office at the time. While he was there he met the Support Services Manager of the Morro Bay P.D. Dave invited the newly found friend to stop by and visit with him in Newport on the way home. Of course, not wanting to be rude, the new friend stopped by and so started a long distance relationship with his new friend. Eventually they got tired of driving back and forth from Lake Forest to Morro Bay so, having reached his maximum, he retired and married the Joy of his life. Joy and Dave have been happily married for 23 years and living near Lake Nacimiento, CA. They have a home on an acre of land in the hills. When Dave retired, he worked on an Ad Hoc committee revising and updating the Morro Bay Municipal Codes for two years and then spent two years on the Morro Bay planning commission. He was encouraged to run for city council which he did; and served for 8 years including two terms as vice-mayor. He also served 8 years on the San Luis Obispo Council of Government and served as President and Vice-President. Between the two, he had occasion to travel around the western states and Washington DC, working with other Councils, state and federal agencies. Dave and Joy have a 40’ Country Coach motor home and spend their spare time motor homing. They have a membership at Bass Lake and belong to 2 motor home clubs. Dave has 2 grown children–2 boys and a girl, living in Texas, Upland, and Los Angeles. Interview conducted by Stan Bressler