Police say the driver of a taxi cab with extensive front end damage was arrested in Laguna Beach early on New Year’s Day, a suspect in a hit and run collision that fatally injured a Valencia man in his 20s in Newport Beach.
The Orange County Coroner identified the victim as Travis Marton.
The suspect, Ronald Lloyd Aviles, 56, of San Clemente, was arrested for felony hit and run and booked at the Newport Beach Police Department, Laguna Beach police Capt. Jason Kravetz said in a statement. Alcohol does not appear to be a contributing factor, Kravetz said.
The circumstances of the collision are still under investigation, but police say Newport dispatchers received a report about a person lying in the road on East Coast Highway at Newport Coast Drive about 3 a.m.
Within 10 minutes of an alert being issued to nearby law enforcement agencies about a hit and run, a Laguna Beach officer came across a yellow cab van in the downtown area, which had extensive front end damage, Kravetz said. The driver was pulled over and detained for further investigation and Newport officers responded to the scene and ended up arresting the man for the hit and run death of the pedestrian, Kravetz said.
Bail for Aviles was set at $50,000.
Newport Police Investigator Bill Hume seeks the public’s assistance with information about the collision. Contact him at 949-644-3746 or [email protected].
