To Live and Crash in L.A.
From: Axel Joachim Zahn (aj_zahngmx.de)
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:46:13 -0700 (PDT)
At 6 a.m. on Friday 21 this year, Malibu police Sergeant Phil Brooks
answered what he thought was a routine call about a car crash on the Pacific
Coast Highway. It would turn out to be anything but. 

The script for this accident reads like "Mission Impossible": A car race
between two stolen, foreign- registered, million-dollar cars ends at 162
mph, when one is cut in half by a phone pole. 

Unhurt in the crash is a fugitive financier who claims someone else was
driving. He's interviewed by mysterious "Homeland Security" officers, and
the police trail uncovers millions in missing money, unregistered weapons,
illegal drugs, and a "lost" yacht with other suspects aboard. The Internet
has been buzzing ever since, and no West Coast cocktail party is complete
without the subject being discussed.

ENZO IN TWO PIECES

At the crash site, Sergeant Brooks discovered a red 2005 Ferrari Enzo broken
into two pieces immediately behind the passenger compartment - and the
pieces were 600 feet apart. A concrete power pole was broken in two, with
the bottom half lying on the ground and the upper half dangling from its
wiring, which caused a power outage in the surrounding area. The Enzo's
engine and other pieces were scattered along the road for 1,200 feet.
Standing in the middle of the wreckage were Bo Stefan Eriksson and Trevor
Karney. 

Eriksson identified himself as a 44-year-old Swedish national and the owner
of the Enzo. He said he was a passenger in the Enzo when the crash occurred.
The driver was a German acquaintance named Dietrich (last name unknown), who
fled the scene. Eriksson claimed that Dietrich had been racing a Mercedes
SLR McLaren when he crashed. A breathalyzer test determined that Eriksson's
blood alcohol level was above the legal limit. Karney said he was the
passenger in the Mercedes, and corroborated Eriksson's story.

HOMELAND SECURITY?

A few minutes later, two men arrived and flashed badges, identifying
themselves as officers from Homeland Security. They demanded to speak
privately with Eriksson, and did so at length. 

The police let Eriksson and Karney go. They called in a helicopter and a
search-and-rescue team to search for "Dietrich," but gave up after three
hours.

Further investigation uncovered a web of international intrigue.

Dietrich evaporated once police noticed that both airbags had deployed, but
found blood only on the driver-side airbag. A DNA test proved that it was
Eriksson's blood, and

he then admitted that Dietrich did not exist.

199 MPH WHEN THE TAPE STOPPED

Accident reconstruction determined the Enzo was traveling 162 mph when it
became airborne and hit the power pole. Later, an anonymous witness told the
police that Karney was the passenger in the Enzo, and had a video camera.
The witness claimed he had seen the video, which showed the speedometer
registering 199 mph just before the tape stopped. He said Karney still had
the video. The police went to Karney's address (a yacht moored at an
exclusive marina), but the ship had sailed. It turned out to be registered
to a Carl Freer. Freer, Karney, and the video remain missing.

Police discovered that the Enzo was owned by a Scottish bank and leased to
Gizmondo Europe Ltd, a London-based company, of which Eriksson was an
executive. Further research turned up a second Enzo-a black one-and a
Mercedes SLR McLaren which also belonged to banks who had leased them
Gizmondo. The leases forbade the cars from being taken out of Great Britain,
yet Eriksson had somehow managed to bring all three to the U.S. 

None of the cars were registered for road use in the U.S., as Eriksson
stated that they were only to be used for shows and off-road use.
Nonetheless, many witnesses reported Eriksson caused quite a stir around
normally blasé Los Angeles with his pair of Enzos. 

The banks said payments on the leases stopped a few months after the cars
came to the U.S. and have reported the cars stolen. The banks claim to be
owed $1.15 million, including $566,000 on the wrecked Enzo. 

GIZMONDO GOES WRONGO

Eriksson has a storied past and many run-ins with the law. His first theft
conviction netted him three months in jail, followed by another three and a
half years for cocaine and arms-related convictions. Finally, he was
convicted of fraud and counterfeiting and sentenced to ten years, but
released after about five. In 2000, while working as a debt collector, he
was assigned to find another Swede, Carl Freer, who had failed to deliver
Ferraris to Sweden. The assignment developed into a friendship and the two
formed Gizmondo to develop handheld video game systems to challenge Sony and
Nintendo. 

To raise capital, Eriksson, Freer and several others acquired Floor Decor,
Inc., a virtually defunct carpet retailer that had one significant asset-it
was listed on the NASDAQ exchange. The name was changed to Tiger Telematics,
and became the parent of Gizmondo Europe. The pair started raising cash by
selling Tiger Telematics shares. 

But Gizmondo couldn't sell many video game systems. Critics complained that
they were more expensive than the competition, had numerous technological
features of questionable utility, were rather ugly, and lacked one major
element-games that could be played on them. Nonetheless, Gizmondo burned
through an enormous amount of money, losing $263 million in its final year.

$1,500 LAP DANCERS

Among the questionable expenditures: over $3.1 million in annual salary and
bonuses for Eriksson, and over $3.4 million for Freer; over $500,000 in
salary, bonuses, and automobile allowances for another executive's
girlfriend, who worked for Gizmondo as a secretary; unspecified high
consulting fees for Freer's wife; $1,500 lap dancers; company sponsorship of
a Ferrari raced by Eriksson at Le Mans; $15 million in homes; a $10 million
yacht; and millions in cars, diamonds, and other incidentals for executives.


Seeking a change of scenery, Eriksson, Freer, their wives, two Enzos, and a
Mercedes left England and injected themselves into the L.A. social scene
with a big splash. Then a Swedish newspaper ran a story connecting Eriksson
and Gizmondo and described his criminal past. Eriksson and Freer both
resigned, and a few months later, Gizmondo filed for bankruptcy, listing
debts in excess of $200 million.

GLOCK AMMO UNDER THE SEAT

At the crash scene, Karney approached a motorist who had stopped to help and
asked if he could borrow a cell phone. The motorist let Karney sit in his
car to make the call, then later noticed a loaded Glock handgun magazine
under his seat. 

At the same time, Eriksson identified himself to police as the Deputy
Commissioner of the anti-terrorism unit of the San Gabriel Valley Transit
Authority police department. Intrigued, police investigated the transit
authority and discovered it is a non-profit agency founded by Yosuf Maiwandi
which owns a "fleet" of five small buses used to provide transportation for
disabled and elderly people. 

The transit authority's main place of business was Homer's Auto Service, but
it maintained its own police department, staffed by six volunteer officers.
Eriksson was helping create a security system for the buses. You may wonder
why such an agency would need a police force at all, but Maiwandi claims the
police department was created to provide protection for riders and to run
background checks on bus drivers. 

Unimpressed, police raided the transit authority's offices and seized
numerous documents, five firearms, police jackets, and many police badges.
They also arrested Maiwandi on charges of perjury.

A further raid of Eriksson's Bel Air mansion netted several computers, a
substance believed to be cocaine, and a .357 magnum Smith & Wesson that was
registered to a businessman who served on the Orange County Sheriff's
Advisory Committee as well as being a deputy in its services division. The
sheriff has been criticized for giving deputy badges and concealed weapons
permits to volunteers with no police training. Detectives are still
wondering why the gun was at Eriksson's home.

CHARGES AND STILL MORE CHARGES

Eriksson was charged with embezzlement, grand theft, drunk driving, cocaine
possession, and unlawful possession of a handgun. He faces 14 years in jail.
He is in prison, unable to post bail because his assets are frozen. Eriksson
pleaded not guilty to all counts and insists that he was in negotiations to
pay off his banks when the crash occurred.

Charges against Eriksson were later expanded to include hit and run, driving
without a license, and driving without insurance. Police say that on another
occasion, Eriksson was driving a Porsche Cayenne when he rear-ended a Ford
explorer, then drove off. Police say he did not own the Cayenne, but did not
elaborate as to how he came to be driving it. 

Eriksson's associate, Carl Freer, was arrested and charged with perjury,
impersonating a police officer in order to purchase a gun, and unlawful
possession of a weapon. Police confiscated 12 rifles and four handguns from
his home and yacht. 

Then Eriksson's wife was pulled over while driving the SLR. She was cited
for driving without a valid driver's license. The SLR was confiscated
because it was unregistered, carried British license plates, was illegally
exported from Great Britain, and had been reported stolen by the bank that
owned it. 

NOT GOING ANYWHERE SOON

Eriksson's trial is scheduled to begin July 31. However, many motions have
been filed by his attorneys, and that date is likely to change. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement continues to investigate how
Eriksson and the cars got into the country and have placed an immigration
hold on him, so that they can arrest him if he is released from jail. A
spokeswoman stated, "He is potentially subject to deportation." Scotland
Yard is also investigating.

Karney and Freer's yacht is believed to be sailing to Ireland, but has not
been located. The Malibu Sheriff's Department is looking for the two
"Homeland Security" agents, eager to question them. 

Press and Internet buzz reflects amazement about the safety features of the
Enzo. Many bloggers are amazed that Eriksson and Karney survived such a
horrific crash without any injuries other than Eriksson's cut lip. A police
officer at the scene was quoted with practically British understatment: "For
a million dollars, you get a pretty good air bag system."

Ferraristi around the world are reported to be severely depressed about the
sacrilegious loss of one of the 400 Enzos built by Ferrari. One fan even lit
a rosary candle at the scene and tacked a picture of the Enzo to a cross.
("Get a life" might be an appropriate response here.) And summing up neatly,
Malibu Mayor Andy Stern suggests this case should serve as a warning to
sports car drivers not to speed on Pacific Highway. Especially if they have
a lot to lose.

>>> http://www.sportscarmarket.com/articles/archives/756


Axel J. Zahn
www.f1media.com


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