Investigation into deadly plane crash that killed beloved Carson City restaurateur raises questions

Friends and acquaintances of Tony Pastini described him as a generous member of the community, a long-time supporter of local youth programs. He was a friendly face to his neighbors.

To his daughter, Julia Ackley, he was a hero.

In the wake of Pastini's death, however, information about the 75 year-old Gardnerville resident and Carson City restaurateur has surfaced, raising more questions from the Feb. 3 plane crash in Yorba Linda, CA, that killed five people, including Pastini.

Pastini died last Sunday when the twin-engine Cessna Chancellor he was piloting appeared to have broken apart in the air, causing the aircraft to plummet and crash into a residence, killing Pastini and four people inside of the home.

The first question that arose in the days following the deadly crash was the legitimacy of law enforcement credentials recovered from the wreckage.

Pastini had openly and often talked about his law enforcement career as a Chicago police officer. But Los Angeles broadcast affiliates reported Feb. 5 that the credentials found were determined by authorities to be fake. Even the number on the badge recovered from Pastini's body had been reported lost or stolen in 1978.

The Chicago Police Department, where Pastini was said to have retired from, had no record of him ever serving on the force. The credentials he was carrying at the time of the crash appeared to be "fictitiously created," a Chicago Police spokesman told NBC News.

Neither Pastini's known name nor his given name could show that he had served in law enforcement despite those credentials identifying him.

He was born Jordan Isaacson, Ackley told NBC Los Angeles, and he was often referred to by his nickname, "Ike."

He reportedly changed his name in the 1970s for unknown reasons.

In a 1997 interview with the Reno Gazette-Journal, Pastini described himself as having been "on both sides of the law, as criminal and cop." He elaborated to the RGJ reporter at the time that he had once been arrested on suspicion of grand theft at the age of 14.

In Northern Nevada, Pastini was the well-known owner of Kim Lee's Sushi and Teriyaki restaurant in downtown Carson City.

His passion for the food industry led him to train fellow restaurant owners on food and health safety topics as well.

He was well-liked among his colleagues and other community members in Carson City and the Carson Valley.

Outside of the restaurant scene, Pastini was also an experienced pilot, who held multiple Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certifications to fly single and twin-engine aircraft as well as helicopters, according to a report published Thursday by the Herald and News in Klamath Falls, OR, near where the crashed aircraft had been registered.

The Southern Oregon newspaper reported that Pastini's twin-engine Cessna Chancellor had been registered in the community of Chiloquin in Klamath County, OR, for reasons not yet known.

Registration filings list a company titled "KL Management LLC" assuming ownership of the aircraft in 2017, the Herald and News reported.

The address posted on the registration for KL Management turned out to be the location of a quilting shop in Klamath Falls, where a Debbie Pastini has operated a retail business.

A sign was recently placed on the front door of the business, stating the store was closed temporarily because of a family emergency, the Herald and News reported.

Debbie Pastini could not be reached for comment, the paper said, and her relation to Tony Pastini is unclear at this time.

The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office told the Herald and News that no record of KL Management LLC existed with the state; although filings for it may still be pending.

Records with the Nevada Secretary of State's Office show Pastini's name linked to several registered business entities, including Barritone, Inc., Food Safety Network, Inc., Debbie-Lynn's Creamery, Inc., MTL Management, Inc. and Veranda View LLC.

The name Deborah or Debbie Pastini also appears in the state business license registry under Debbie-Lynn's Creamery, MTL Management, Kim Lee's Restaurants, Inc. and KL Management, LLC.

Of those registered licenses, only KL Management and Veranda View are currently active. The others have been revoked, according to nvsilverflume.gov, the Nevada Secretary of State's business portal.

Pastini was said to have flown often to visit his daughter in Orange County, CA, where his plane had taken off from just minutes before it broke apart and crashed.

He was said to have been a good friend of the late brothel owner-turned-state assembly candidate Dennis Hof, who called Pastini "his pilot" at the legal pimp's 72nd birthday bash last October, shortly after which he was found dead in a Southern Nevada brothel.

Pastini regularly flew Hof and his girls at no charge as long as they paid for the fuel costs, according to reports.

He started flying this past November for Angel Flight West, a volunteer organization that arranges flights to and from health care facilities for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to make the trip.

The investigation into last Sunday's deadly plane crash is ongoing. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has moved the wreckage to storage unit in Phoenix, AZ, where investigators will continue to piece together the cause of the crash.

Pastini leaves behind four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.