Charges filed: Against driver involved in the death of Tapout founder Mask

Jeffrey David Kirby a 51 year old resident of Costa Mesa was officially charged by the Orange County District Attorney on March 11th. Kirby, has two previous DUI convictions one in 2002 and another in 1985. According to mmajunkie.com Kirby has been charged with "vehicular manslaughter by unlawful act with gross negligence while intoxicated, one felony count of driving under the influence causing bodily injury, and sentencing enhancements for fleeing the scene of a vehicular manslaughter and causing great bodily injury to multiple victims". The charges against Kirby carry a maximum sentence of 19 years incarceration.

Police are still investigating and have not ruled out the possibility of street racing. Kirby, was spotted fleeing the scene of the accident by a passing cruiser and was later apprehended with visual damage to his car. A female passenger of Kirby's was cited for public intoxication and released.

Charles "Mask" Lewis Jr. was the founder of the very successful Tapout clothing apparel. Along with his two friends and business partners Punkass and Skyscrape. They founded Tapout in 1997 with only two thousand dollars in starting capital and a passion for the controversial underground sport of MMA.First by selling t-shirts out of their trunk and eventually made it to the top of the sport by being one of the UFC's biggest sponsors as well as having deals with major retailers such as Macy's and Champs Sports. Tapout sells reached $25 million in 2007 and is projected to reach $100 million in 2008. A far cry from the $29,000 that the fledgling company reported in 1999.

UFC president Dana White told Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press, "You couldn't meet a nicer guy, a more friendly, outgoing guy, a more loyal guy (than Mask). He really was a good person. He's one of the pioneers, one of the legends of this sport.

"This guy was selling T-shirts out of the trunk of his car and when we first got involved with the UFC, we met them. We really liked them. We liked their energy. They were good people and we got together and we started doing all this grassroots marketing together – the UFC and Tapout. They were very loyal to us and we were very loyal to them.

"And it sucks to see a guy who has worked so hard his whole life, to finally make it and break through, and then have something like this happen to him."