The Swedish video game entrepreneur involved in the 162-mph crash of a Ferrari in February has been arrested and accused of grand theft auto for an unauthorized collection of exotic cars, authorities said.
Detectives concluded that the wrecked Enzo Ferrari — one of only 400 made — along with a Mercedes and another Enzo Ferrari in Stefan Eriksson's collection were actually owned by British financial institutions, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Eriksson apparently brought the cars to Los Angeles when he moved from Britain last year, but the financial institutions that held the titles said his payments had lapsed. Authorities have said the $600,000 Mercedes had been reported stolen to London's Scotland Yard. The Ferrari was worth more than $1 million.
All three cars have been confiscated, and Eriksson, 44, was arrested at his Bel-Air home Saturday, Whitmore said.
He is being held without bail because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement put a hold on him, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
The Ferrari crash spun into a web of mystery when Eriksson told authorities 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.
Officials have questioned Eriksson's story, noting that only the driver's side air bag had blood on it and Eriksson had a cut lip. The front of the red Ferrari crumpled when it slammed into a pole on the Pacific Coast Highway on Feb. 21.
Eriksson was an executive with Gizmondo, a European video game company that filed for bankruptcy.