Posted on 04/17/2006 11:26:00 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
case
LOS ANGELES (AP) A Swedish businessman involved in the high-speed crash of a rare Ferrari on a coastal highway pleaded not guilty Monday to embezzlement and other charges in the alleged theft of a collection of exotic cars.
Bo Stefan M. Eriksson, 44, did not speak during the hearing. The plea was entered on his behalf by his attorney, David Elden, as Eriksson listened from behind a glass barrier.
Judge Mary Strobel set a bail review hearing for April 24.
Deputy District Attorney Tamara Hall said bail had been set at $5.5 million to include the $3.8 million cost of the cars and because Eriksson was considered a flight risk after authorities found an airline ticket for an April 10 flight to the United Kingdom.
Hall also told the judge that Eriksson should be held because he did not cooperate with Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators and made ``untrue statements'' to immigration officials.
Outside court, Elden said his client was not a flight risk because he owned a home and business in the Los Angeles area.
Eriksson's other attorney, Andrew Flier, called the bail amount ``outrageous'' far exceeding the $1 million bail for clients he is defending in murder cases.
``This is a traffic collision that has turned into a major criminal case because of the value of the Ferrari,'' Flier said.
Eriksson was charged with embezzlement, grand theft and possession of a gun by a felon. He also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of drunken driving.
Eriksson, a former executive with the European video game company Gizmondo, imported two Enzo Ferraris and a rare Mercedes McLaren SLR worth an estimated $3.8 million, prosecutors said.
The cars were owned by British financial institutions and leased to Eriksson, Deputy District Attorney Steven Sowders said in a statement. The lease agreement did not allow Eriksson to take the cars out of Great Britain, Sowders said.
Authorities contend Eriksson, arrested in early April, was behind the wheel of an Enzo Ferrari one of only 400 made when it wrecked Feb. 21 on Pacific Coast Highway in west Malibu. The car crashed into a pole at 162 mph, totaling the $1 million vehicle.
Eriksson told police he was only a passenger in the car and that the driver was a German acquaintance he knew only as Dietrich. He said Dietrich ran into the hills, but a search by deputies turned up no one.
Detectives questioned Eriksson's story, noting that only the driver's side air bag had blood on it and Eriksson had a cut lip.
During a search of Eriksson's house in Bel-Air, authorities said they discovered a handgun. Prosecutors said the weapons charge stemmed from a counterfeiting conviction against Eriksson in Sweden in the early '90s.
If convicted on all counts, Eriksson could be sentenced to as many as 14 years in state prison.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also placed a hold on him and that had not been lifted, authorities said Monday.
In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors.
fyi
Having 'stolen' Enzo Ferraris and Mercedes-McLaren SLR is like having a neon calling card chasing your hind end. Although it must have been good while it lasted.
I've been following this - and watch way too many spy shows, so my imagination goes wild on this one. I have noticed the fake homeland security badges are not being reported in the follow up stories.
What I want to know...... how do you survive a crash on a public road at 160+ miles per hour?
He did have a cut lip...
Maybe this is the answer.
You can thank the amazing build structure of current supercars. Those things will take amazing damage in a crash, but the 'cockpit' (and in many ways it is one) will be largely untouched. The way modern sportscars, especially the supercars, are built is really amazing. A Bugatti could probably protect its driver at 190mph better than a Corvette could at 90, then again you are paying over 1.1 million dollars more for the Bugatti Veyron than you would for the 2006 C6 Corvette. The makers of such cars have a vested interest in keeping their clients whole and hearty.
Yes, but not at 162 MPH.
Chassis
The chassis was built entirely of carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb sandwich panels, which made it possible to meet demands for outstanding rigidity, lightness and safety.
Thanks for that link!
"I know someone that survived a crash on a public road at 170 mph and it was on a motorcycle, the Suzuki Hayabusa. This was the summer of 2004."
I screwed my Ducati into the center of the Earth at 155 mph in
Pocono's a few years back.
looked like a yard sale.
Not fun.
Yumpin Yimminy!
Dietrich not only survived, but ran up a hill and evaded authorities too!
I can't imagine going 162 mph on PCH, which is usually choked with traffic.
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Ferrari Enzo