Man arrested in deadly Ferrari crash
Driver of Porsche, seen fleeing accident by police, in Newport jail.
BY SERENA MARIA DANIELS and SARA FAY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Comments 126| Recommend 12

NEWPORT BEACH – A man has been arrested for vehicular manslaughter for his involvement in a crash with a red Ferrari early this morning, in which another man was killed and a woman was injured, authorities said.

Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa is in Newport Beach police custody in lieu of $1 million bail on a count of gross vehicular manslaughter after a police officer reportedly witnessed him fleeing the scene of a collision involving the Ferrari and a white 1977 Porsche just before 1 a.m. at southbound Jamboree Road, near Camelback Street.

The officer told authorities that Kirby was driving the Porsche alongside the Ferrari when the red car hit a curb and then a light pole, which toppled onto the luxury Italian sports car. The officer said the Porsche stopped momentarily, but continued driving.

The officer came to the aid of the crash victims and requested help in finding the Porsche.

Officers found the Porsche on Bison Avenue, a few blocks away. Kirby and a woman, Lynn Marie Nobozny, 32, of Newport Beach were seen walking away from the vehicle, police said.

Nobozny was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and was later released.

Southbound Jamboree Road between North Eastbluff Drive and Bison is closed. The roadway is not expected to open until around noon.

Firefighters declared a man dead at the scene, initially said to be the driver, although authorities have not confirmed that. His name was not immediately released.

A female victim believed to have been an occupant was ejected from the vehicle. She was taken to Western Medical Center following the accident, authorities said. Her condition was not immediately known, although police said her condition has since stabilized.

Skid marks could be seen along the roadway leading up to the site of the crash. The rear of the car came to rest more than 30 feet away from the front end.

The Porsche had moderate damage, indicating that it had collided with the Ferrari.

Early City News Service reports said the Ferrari appeared to be a GTB Fiorano, an all-aluminum V12 with a top speed of 205 mph and a price tag of about $300,000, but police later confirmed the model was a 2004 Modena.

Motorists using Eastbluff are asked to use caution as schools are in the surrounding area.

10. This is tragic! Do you have any idea how rare those Ferraris are?

Posted at 3:29PM on Mar 11th 2009 by DR. Autocarbus\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

4. I know this is really really REALLY mean
BUT,
this dude was a total douche bag, and totally full of himself..
probably was showing off and being a douche bag and thats probably how he died.

I KNOW THIS IS MEAN..
BUT DID ANYONE EVER WATCH THE SHOW TAPOUT?!? C'mon total douche bag

Posted at 3:25PM on Mar 11th 2009 by ☆★RoXaNnE☆★

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Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

A Newport Beach police officer surveys wreckage of a Ferrari that split in half after hitting a pole on Jamboree Road. One man was killed, a woman was injured and another man was arrested in connection with the crash.


A passenger is injured and the other driver is in jail on charges of DUI. Police say men may have been racing.
By Christine Hanley and Lance Pugmire
March 12, 2009
He was a former lawman who called himself "Mask" and advocated a hold-nothing-back lifestyle that helped transform mixed martial arts fighting into a craze and turned his own fighting apparel company into a multimillion-dollar business.

Before dawn Wednesday on a long, straight stretch of road in Newport Beach, Charles Lewis was killed when his red Ferrari collided with a white Porsche in an accident so violent that the red sports car was ripped in half and his female passenger was hurled into the street.
Police said the two cars appeared to have been traveling side by side at a high rate of speed at 12:57 a.m. on Jamboree Road near the Upper Newport Bay when they collided. Officers said they are investigating whether the drivers were racing.

The Porsche driver, identified as Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa, was arrested after allegedly abandoning his car on a side street near the collision and taking off on foot with his female passenger. Kirby is being held on suspicion of felony drunk driving and driving under the influence. Bail is set at $2 million.

Kirby's passenger, Lynn Marie Nabozny, 32, of Newport Beach, was arrested for public intoxication and later released. The motion picture database imdb.com lists a Lynn Marie Nabozny as having acted in the 1997 television series "The Heartbreak Cafe."


Lewis' passenger remained in critical condition at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Before he broke into the mixed martial arts scene, Lewis, 45, was a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who worked at the Central Detention Center in downtown San Bernardino from December 1996 to May 1998.

The Ferrari had "confidential plates" registered with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department because Lewis was a former deputy.

According to Orange County Superior Court records, Kirby has been cited for at least eight traffic violations since 2001, including a conviction for driving under the influence in which he was sentenced to three years' probation.

In the 2001 drunk driving arrest, Kirby allegedly told the arresting officer that his father was a retired CHP patrolman who always advised him to never submit to a sobriety test. He also told the officer that "he shouldn't be picking on people with money," according to the police report.

At TapouT offices in San Bernardino County, the secretary who answered the phone was in tears. The company's Web page was updated during the day to acknowledge the death of "our beloved friend, brother and co-founder."

TapouT spokesman Adam Feigen said Lewis and co-founder Dan "Punkass" Caldwell started TapouT in 1997, selling T-shirts out of the trunks of their cars at mixed martial arts shows to earn gas money. Fight promoter T. Jay Thompson recalled having to pick up hotel costs for the two men so they could sell their shirts at the shows.

As mixed martial arts exploded in recent years, TapouT became the apparel of choice for many fighters. TapouT was the exclusive apparel used in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's popular reality fighting television series on Spike TV, "The Ultimate Fighter."

"Everyone's going to miss him," said Ultimate Fighting superstar Chuck Liddell, who said he was looking forward to seeing Lewis at his upcoming fight next month in Montreal. "He had a great personality and he was at all the shows."

Lewis' infectious personality was captured for two seasons on the Versus reality show, "TapouT," in which Lewis and his partners traveled the country seeking mixed martial art's next star. A third season was about to begin filming.