Driver in August crash to be arraigned today

A Costa Mesa man who fatally struck a pedestrian with his car in August is scheduled to be arraigned today for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence after police determined the crash was his fault because he was text messaging while driving, prosecutors said.

An Orange County Superior Court judge recently issued a warrant for Martin Kuehl’s arrest because he was free while police investigated the crash. Newport Beach police arrested him Monday afternoon.

He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail in Orange County Jail.

Prosecutors said Kuehl, 41, was westbound on Westcliff Drive near Dover Drive on Aug. 29 when he hit Martha Ovalle, a 32-year-old Guatemalan immigrant as she was in the crosswalk.

Ovalle was on her way to a Newport Beach home where she worked as a housekeeper, her second job on top of being a nanny for another local family.

Police arrested Kuehl at the scene on an unrelated probation violation, but did not charge him with this crash until their investigation was completed, police said.

He faces six years in prison if convicted of all charges.

— Joseph Serna