TapouT Founder Charles “Mask” Lewis Dies in Ferrari Crash in Newport Beach

In the last few years there has been a huge uptick in the number of high-speed crashes involving exotic sports cars driven by celebrities and the uber rich. Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo kicked off the first infamous wreck of 2009 on January 9th when he put his $260,000 Ferrari 599 GTB into the wall in a tunnel in Manchester, UK. Luckily, he walked away unscathed. (See Renaldo’s Ferrari 599 GTB below)

Even though there have been a smattering of famous crash reports over the years from overseas, it seems like every other week in my back yard, Los Angeles, there is a spectacular collision with some still top of mind. In September of 2008, a 30 year old man took his lime green Lamborghini Murcielago and flipped it over the guard rail on the 101 freeway, where it landed on a parking structure below and burst into flames. The most famous crash of the recent past is one that took place on the PCH in Malibu in 2006. It involved Swedish crime boss and Gizmodo exec Stefan Eriksson and a rare Ferrari Enzo, one of the most coveted and respected cars of all time. The car was completely severed in half but Erikkson emerged with only a bloody lip. (See Erikkson’s Ferrari Enzo shown below)

And now, there has been yet another crash involving a celebrity. Charles Lewis, the famed “Mask” who turned MMA fighting into a phenomenon and created multi-million dollar clothing company TapouT that featured fighting gear, has perished in a violent high-speed collision. The incident took place in the early morning hours on Wednesday, March 11th. In what appears to have been a side by side race with a white Porsche on a long stretch of road in Newport Beach, California, Lewis’ red Ferrari made contact with the other car, lost control and collided with a light pole. (See Lewis’ Ferrari images below)

The car was torn in half killing Lewis and tossing his female companion out onto the street. She remains in critical condition while the driver of the Porsche, Jeffrey Kirby, is being held on $2 million bail. Kirby and his lady friend, Lynn Maria Nabozny, took off on foot afterwards. Kirby was arrested for felony drunk driving and Nabozny was booked for public intoxication and later released.

Source: LA Times