"Mask," one of the popular
real-life characters from MMA apparel giant
Tapout, died the first part of this morning
in a automobile accident in California
.Mask, who's true name is Charles Lewis
Jr., died when his red Ferrari Modena
crashed into a utility pole in Newport
Beach at approximately 1 a.m. local
time.The driver of a time car, an
older-model white Porsche that is thought
to have been heard traveling at a high rate
of speed later to Lewis' car, has been
arrested on gross vehicular manslaughter
while intoxicated, a Newport Beach Police
Department reportedLt. Craig Fox of the
Newport Beach Police Department could not
confirm the identity of the deceased male
until the Orange County Sheriff's
Department notifies subsequently of kin.
However, sources close to Lewis told Tapout
News.com he was the one who died in the
accident.Lt. Fox stated it is not well
known if either the male old client (Lewis)
or a female companion was driving the
Ferrari. After the Ferrari hit a curb and
smashed into the pole, the female was
ejected from the car and was transferred to
the Western Medical Center in Santa Ana ,
where she remains in firm condition,
according to Lt. Fox.Lewis was pronounced
dead at the scene.According to Fox, a
Newport Beach Police officer was on patrol
in the area and observed both the Ferrari
and the Porsche "spinning out of control on
Jamboree Road between Bison Avenue and East
Bluff Drive .
""It was
damaged very badly," Fox said of the
Ferrari, that nearly split into two pieces.
"The male was pronounced dead at the
scene." The Porsche initially fled the
scene, but police soon located the damaged
car a few blocks from at which the Ferrari
crashed."The damage appeared related to the
accident (on Jamboree Road )," Fox
said.Leaving the Porsche were 51-year-old
Jeffrey David Kirby of Costa Mesa and
32-year-old Lynn Marie Nabozny of Newport
Beach , who were both detained."Through
this investigation, [police officers] got
able to determine the male was the driver
of the Porsche," Lt. Fox said. "He was
arrested for gross vehicular manslaughter
additonally intoxicated. He was booked ...
on a $1 million bail."Nabozny was arrested
for public intoxication and later
released."There were skid marks found at
the scene," argued Lt. Fox, who proven
investigators were continue to sifting
through the crash scene as of noon PST
today. "It appears there were maybe high
rates of promptness involved, but
properties don't appreciate what led up to
the collision. The officer (who observed
the crash) didn't see that. He barely saw
the after effects of what appears to be the
possible collision." Lewis will be
remembered as one of MMA's first and true
entrepreneurs.Lewis founded Tapout Clothing
Inc. in 1997 with a trunk full of T-shirts
and a few thousand dollars of start-up
money. Over the out of decade, he and his
partners have made the firm the peak
apparel success story in MMA. Original
Source MMA Junkie.com
