Man arrested in hit and run

Mike Swanson

Police arrested a retired Newport Beach attorney Monday on suspicion

of hitting a pedestrian and driving away in North Laguna Saturday

after the suspect reportedly told workers at a body shop that he’d

hit a drunk man.

George Jacobs, 77, took his 1996 Ford Thunderbird to a Costa Mesa

body shop to repair a broken windshield and admitted to a worker that

the damage resulted from hitting a pedestrian, Capt. Danell Adams

said. Laguna Beach police had issued a press release Sunday seeking

information on a driver who two witnesses saw strike and critically

wound 42-year-old Laguna Beach resident David Gibbs at 9:48 p.m. in

the intersection of Viejo Street and North Coast Highway.

The Costa Mesa Police Department went to the body shop Monday

after an employee called and found a significant sample of hair stuck

in the broken windshield, Adams said. Jacobs had already picked up

his repaired car.

While a Laguna Beach police detective was at the body shop later

that day, Jacobs returned to the shop to bring the staff event

tickets to reward them for doing a great job on his car, Adams said.

“Our detective then brought the suspect in, interviewed him, and

he denied it,” Adams said. “Then he began telling lies, and one lie

compounded the next until his story was all over the place. To put it

plainly, we know he did it.”

Gibbs was in a coma as of Wednesday, and it initially looked like

he might need to have one of his legs amputated, Adams said. The

condition of his leg had improved by Tuesday, but Gibbs remained in

critical condition.

“We’re optimistic that the victim will survive,” Adams said. “He’s

passed the 72-hour point, so we’re hoping he comes out of it soon.”

Gibbs’ wife, Shay, was walking behind her husband when he was hit,

she said. She told police someone had called her name shortly before

the car came, causing her to stop and turn, allowing David Gibbs to

get ahead of her. The impact knocked David Gibbs an estimated 40 feet

from the accident scene, Adams said.

“We have a DNA sample from the victim, a sample of the hair that

was in the windshield, and the damage to the Thunderbird is extremely

consistent with witnesses’ account of the accident,” Adams said.

Jacobs was arraigned Wednesday and is being held at Orange County

Jail on suspicion of hit and run causing injury or death. His bail is

$10,000.