Games mogul arrested for car theft
A Swedish video game mogul was arrested on suspicion of automobile theft after he destroyed a million-dollar Ferrari in a high-speed crash in February, police said Sunday.
Stefan Eriksson, 44, was arrested in his swank Bel Air home Saturday, said Don Manumaleuna of the local sheriff's department.
He was held without bail under suspicion of grand theft auto, a charge that inspired a video game of the same name.
On February 21 Eriksson's rare Ferrari Enzo, only 399 of which were ever made, was split in half and reduced to scrap in a mysterious high-speed crash in Los Angeles.
Police estimated the vehicle was moving 230 kilometers (143 miles) per hour at the time of the crash.
Eriksson, who was slightly injured, claimed at the time that he had been a passenger in the car and that the driver had fled, but officers said later that Eriksson may have been at the wheel.
Eriksson is suspected of illegally importing the red Ferrari along with a black version of the same model and a 400,000-dollar Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren sports car that were reportedly leased by his former employer, video game player maker Gizmondo Europe. Financial institutions claim ownership.
On March 28 police in Beverly Hills seized the British-registered Mercedes-Benz from Eriksson's wife, Nicole Persson, 33, after questions arose over its ownership.
The companies that leased the vehicles to Gizmondo are claiming ownership.
AFP
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Stefan Eriksson, 44, was arrested in his swank Bel Air home Saturday, said Don Manumaleuna of the local sheriff's department.
He was held without bail under suspicion of grand theft auto, a charge that inspired a video game of the same name.
On February 21 Eriksson's rare Ferrari Enzo, only 399 of which were ever made, was split in half and reduced to scrap in a mysterious high-speed crash in Los Angeles.
Police estimated the vehicle was moving 230 kilometers (143 miles) per hour at the time of the crash.
Eriksson, who was slightly injured, claimed at the time that he had been a passenger in the car and that the driver had fled, but officers said later that Eriksson may have been at the wheel.
Eriksson is suspected of illegally importing the red Ferrari along with a black version of the same model and a 400,000-dollar Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren sports car that were reportedly leased by his former employer, video game player maker Gizmondo Europe. Financial institutions claim ownership.
On March 28 police in Beverly Hills seized the British-registered Mercedes-Benz from Eriksson's wife, Nicole Persson, 33, after questions arose over its ownership.
The companies that leased the vehicles to Gizmondo are claiming ownership.
AFP
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