Police: Arrest made in hit-and-run that killed doctor

Newport Beach police made an arrest early Tuesday in connection to a weekend hit-and-run that killed a doctor riding her bike.

Michael Jason Lopez, 39, of Anaheim is believed to have been driving a full-sized black pickup truck in the Saturday collision that killed Dr. Catherine “Kit” Campion Ritz, Newport police said.

Lopez was arrested at 2 a.m. on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, according to police.

He was booked at Newport Beach Jail and held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Campion Ritz, an Irvine resident who was president of Greater Newport Physicians for 18 years, died at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo about four hours after the collision. She practiced at Newport Family Medicine.

Colleagues and a family member described Campion Ritz, 57, as a dedicated and compassionate physician who enjoyed the outdoors. She avidly kayaked, biked, snow-shoed and hiked, and had traveled extensively with her husband, Patrick Ritz.

A Ghost Bike-style memorial with a white bicycle, flowers, candles and a white helmet has been placed on Newport Coast Drive in memory of Campion Ritz.

— Lauren Williams

Twitter: @lawilliams30