Porsche Driver Charged With Manslaughter in OC Crash
Costa Mesa man also hit with DUI charge
Jeffrey David Kirby, the driver of a Porsche involved in a crash that killed a Ferrari driver, is charged with two felonies.
A man was charged Friday with vehicular manslaughter in the death of a mixed martial arts figure who died after a Ferrari he was driving was sheared in half.
Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa was charged Friday with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one felony count of driving under the influence causing bodily injury. Charles David Lewis Jr., better known as "Mask," died Wednesday after his red 2004 Ferrari Modena collided with Kirby's Porsche, hit a light post and split in half.
It wasn't immediately clear if Kirby had retained an attorney.
The Orange County District Attorney said the case is the second DUI offense for Kirby.
Prosecutors said Kirby also faces a stiffer potential sentence -- more than 19 years in state prison -- for fleeing the scene.
Kirby's prior drunken driving conviction came in 2002.
Prosecutors say the crash happened Wednesday after Kirby was speeding in his 1977 Porsche on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach, with a female passenger, early Wednesday morning.
Kirby's Porsche crashed into the 2004 Ferrari driven by Charles David Lewis Jr., prosecutors said.
Lewis was killed in the crash. His passenger, a 23-year-old woman, was thrown from the Ferrari and injured. She was treated for a broken elbow and other injuries and was in stable condition on Friday.
Kirby allegedly drove away from the scene of the crash and, along with his passenger -- a 32-year-old woman -- then parked and walked away from the Porsche.
But a Newport Beach Police officer observed the crash and arrested Kirby and his passenger a short time later, prosecutors said. Kirby's female passenger was arrested for public intoxication but was not otherwise charged in connection with the crash.
