It’s been about a week, so it’s time for more twists in the story of former Gizmondo CEO Stefan Eriksson. Eriksson, you’ll remember, was involved in the 160+ mph crash of a million-dollar Ferrari Enzo, which may or may not have really been his, and which he may or may not have been driving. The fact that the actual crash occurred is pretty much the only thing that’s clear. The rest of the story’s been filled with bizarre developments — and it doesn’t look like they’re going to stop anytime soon.
Let’s get the mundane details out of the way first. Police now say that there was no Mercedes SLR, which was up to this point believed to be racing the Enzo at the time of the crash. They also now say there were two people in the Enzo when it was obliterated, but still believe Eriksson — who’s not yet been charged with anything — was driving. There was blood on the driver’s side airbag, and he’s submitted a sample of his DNA for comparison.
Now the fun stuff: Eriksson told sheriff’s deputies at the scene of the crash that he is the “deputy commissioner of the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority’s police anti-terrorism unit”. Uh. Okay.
The San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority is a private non-profit group that provides free bus rides to the disabled, elderly and poor in a small part of the LA area. It’s unclear exactly why it needs a police department (its site is dead, link to Google cache), if it’s operating legally, or indeed, if it even actually exists. The Transit Authority itself is run out of an auto repair shop, while Eriksson’s civil attorney is its chairman.
Just like the rest of the story, none of this is straightforward, particularly Eriksson’s anti-terrorism connections. Apparently just after the crash, two men identifying themselves as “homeland security” showed up at the scene and talked to Eriksson. Police now believe they were from the mysterious transit-authority police.
The water just gets murkier and murkier, but it’s nearly impossible to take anything Eriksson says at face value. But a note to any terrorists thinking of using the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority as a target: it’s probably best just to move on and find something else. Everything connected to this guy is trouble.
(Thanks Gustaf, photo from the LA Times)
[tags]gizmondo, stefan eriksson, enzo[/tags]
I used to work with this guy and nothing he gets up to surprises me. A total jerk…
He is rich, but none of it is his own money - it all comes from hoodwinking investors and embezzlement. I think he would be lucky to survive a return to Europe right now - too many people want to have a “chat” with him.
He didn’t own the Enzo - he “borrowed” it and it actually belongs to a bank in the UK.
How many years in jail do you get for driving 160mph in the US?
[...] I missed the news last week that another Ex-Gizmondo executive, Carl Freer, had been arrested in LA for trying to buy a handgun, showing a badge showing him as a deputy commissioner of the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority’s police department — the same strange organization to which Stefan Eriksson is tied. Freer’s home and yacht have also been raided, according to the Malibu Times, with “agents emerging with garbage sacks full of evidence from the yacht, and at least 16 rifles and shotguns were seized there and at Freer’s Bel-Air home.” The Times has plenty more details on the preliminary hearing in Stefan Eriksson’s trial, which recaps the ongoing bizarreness of the whole fiasco. [...]