Costa Mesa police nab Uber driver suspected in hit-and-run on same day victim dies from injuries

Costa Mesa police on Tuesday arrested a 43-year-old rideshare driver who allegedly fled the scene after striking a female pedestrian walking near the intersection of Harbor and Newport boulevards early Sunday morning, causing a fatal injury.

Officers were called to the scene shortly before 12:30 a.m. Sunday, where they found a 47-year-old woman lying in a southbound lane of Newport Boulevard, just south of Broadway Street, according to Costa Mesa Police Department spokeswoman Roxi Fyad.

The victim — whose identity had not been released by the county coroner’s office as of Thursday afternoon, pending notification of next of kin, but whose last known address was in Costa Mesa — appeared to have sustained a life-threatening head injury.

Fire personnel arrived on scene and began performing life-saving measures on the woman before transporting her to an area trauma center, where on Tuesday she reportedly succumbed to her injuries, according to a department release issued Wednesday.

Southbound lanes of Newport Boulevard were closed to accommodate an investigation by CMPD’s Major Accident Investigations Team, which determined the suspect was working in the area as a driver for the ride-sharing service Uber and driving a silver Toyota Prius at the time of the collision, Fyad said.

“We had a road closure in the area for our MAIT investigators,” she added. “The roadway was opened at approximately 4:30 a.m.”

Over the next 48 hours, investigators contacted witnesses and collected and analyzed video surveillance footage and other physical evidence that led to the identification of the driver — Thomas Loranze Henry, 43, of Ontario, police reported.

Henry was located by police Tuesday and was arrested and booked on charges of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit and run. Fyad said he was being held on $100,000 bail and was scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

It is unclear whether Henry was working at the time of the incident or might have been off duty when the collision occurred, Fyad said.