A suspect has been arrested in the hit-and-run death of a well-known Irvine doctor who was killed while bicycling in Newport Beach Sept. 15.
Michael Jason Lopez, 39, of Anaheim was booked 2 a.m. Tuesday on suspicion of Vehicular Manslaughter with Gross Negligence, the Newport Beach Police Department said in a news release.
Dr. Catherine "Kit" Campion-Ritz, 57, died Saturday after being hit while riding northbound on Newport Coast Drive.
The vehicle that hit her was at the time reported as a black full-sized pickup truck.
The driver of the truck did not stop.
Newport Beach police Traffic Investigator Eric Little said a 2000 Toyota Tundra truck had been recovered with damage to the right-front end.
Campion-Ritz had been an avid cyclist and for more than two decades, according to a press release put out by MemorialCare Health System.
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For nearly 20 years, she had been the president of Greater Newport Physicians, which has more than 500 doctor members.
"Dr. Kit Campion was a warm, engaging leader, respected and loved by her patients, physician colleagues, nurses and health care professionals throughout Orange County," said Diane Laird, chief executive officer of Greater Newport Physicians CEO and a long-time friend of the victim.
Anyone with information regarding the collision is asked to contact Little at (949) 644-3746.
Lopez is being held at Newport Beach Police Jail on $100,000 bail.
The collision was the second in two days that killed a cyclist in Newport Beach.
On Sept. 15, 29-year-old Sarah Leaf was killed by a vehicle whose driver remained at the scene. Little said that incident was still under investigation and no arrests had been made.
