Re: The Plot Thickens in Ferrari Crash


Indigo Ace wrote:
From the Chicago Tribune--

The Plot Thickens in Ferrari Crash
A gun's magazine found near the wreckage may be connected to the
accident, and a Scottish bank says it might own the destroyed car.

By Richard Winton and David Pierson
Times Staff Writers
Published February 28, 2006

The mystery deepened Monday in the case of the puzzling crash last
week of a $1-million Ferrari Enzo on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

Sheriff's detectives said Monday that they believe a gun's magazine
discovered near the wreckage is connected to the crash, and they plan
to interview an unnamed person who they believe was in the car with
Swedish game machine entrepreneur Stefan Eriksson.

The crash has also garnered the attention of a leading Scottish bank,
which has informed sheriff's investigators that it may own the
destroyed car. At the same time, detectives are trying to figure out
why another exotic car in Eriksson's extensive collection, a Mercedes
SLR, was listed as stolen by Scotland Yard in London, said Sheriff's
Sgt. Phil Brooks.

The totaled Ferrari was one of two Enzos that Eriksson brought into
the United States from England along with the Mercedes SLR, Brooks
said. But detectives concluded that the totaled vehicle did not have
appropriate papers and was not "street legal" for driving in
California, he said.

Detectives have been trying for nearly a week to sort out what exactly
happened last Tuesday morning when Eriksson's Enzo - one of only 400
ever made - smashed into a telephone pole, totaling the car. Eriksson
told deputies that he was the passenger and that a man he knew only as
"Dietrich" was behind the wheel. But detectives have been openly
skeptical of the story, noting that Eriksson had a bloody lip and that
the only blood they found in the car was on the driver's-side air bag.

Brooks said detectives have called in Eriksson for another interview.
Eriksson has declined through the security guard at his gated Bel-Air
estate to comment. An attorney who has previously represented Eriksson
in civil matters, Ashley Posner, also declined to comment Monday.

But some city leaders in Malibu, where the crash has been the talk of
the town, were less circumspect.

"The guy should have had an IQ test," said Malibu Mayor Pro Tem Ken
Kearsley, who has been following the coverage of the crash with a
half-grin. The driver's IQ "couldn't come up above 60 if he was doing
120 on PCH," Kearsley said.

But in fact, Brooks said Monday, the car was traveling 162 mph when it
crashed, far faster than the 120 mph originally believed. The Ferrari,
with just a few inches of undercarriage clearance, hit a bump at a
crest in the road, sending the vehicle airborne and into the power
pole, Brooks said.

Brooks said they are investigating whether someone else may have been
present and are trying to determine whether the recovered gun
component is connected to the case. He declined to say more about the
find or elaborate on the status of the Scottish bank and Scotland Yard
in the case.

The question of whether Eriksson was the driver is key to the case,
Brooks said. Eriksson's blood-alcohol level was 0.09%, higher than the
legal limit for operating a motor vehicle.

Sheriff's officials are still trying to confirm witness reports that
the Ferrari might have been drag racing with another car, and
officials aren't sure if that's what happened.

Sheriff's officials said Eriksson was an executive with a game company
that attempted to take on Sony and Nintendo, but the firm collapsed
last year.

In Malibu, officials said they are not sure what to make of the
accident.

Kearsley said the stretch of road was not known for drag racing, but
for run-of-the-mill speeders. He said the Sheriff's Department has had
success for the last year and a half using radar and lasers to catch
overzealous drivers. The lasers are not detectable to drivers, he
said.

"It's straight as an arrow where the accident was," he said. "You
really have to go out of your way to hit a telephone pole."

Carol Moss, a longtime Malibu resident, activist and meditation group
leader, said the accident came as no surprise.

"It was horrendous, but Malibu is full of idiots," she said. "There
are a lot of wild cars and irresponsible people. The roads are
dangerous. You always see people with those sorts of cars. You see
some wild behavior."

But, in keeping with her Zen frame of mind, Moss extended an olive
branch. "Everyone is welcome to attend the meditation group. Even the
drag racer."


For those of you who may be unaware, PCH is an extremely curvy stretch
of highway that hugs the coast here in SoCal. In Malibu there is often
a significant drop from the highway to the beach.

Mez

.

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