Californian police want to question an Irishman about the destruction of a $1 million (€840,000) Ferrari Enzo in a 260 km/h crash, writes Seán O'Driscoll in New York.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said that Trevor Karney was the passenger of the rare Ferrari Enzo when its owner, Stefan Eriksson, crashed it on a coastal road shortly before the car was due to be repossessed by a British finance company.
Mr Karney (35) left for Ireland hours after the crash on the advice of Mr Eriksson's lawyer, police said. He had given police a home address in Marina Del Rey, California that turned out to be a boatslip.
Police say that Mr Karney is not considered a suspect but they would like to ask him about the circumstances of the accident and the discovery of a gun magazine close to the crash site.
Eriksson, originally from Sweden and the former head of the Gizmundo computer gaming company that collapsed last year, is due in court today charged with grand theft of property for withholding his multimillion dollar car collection from British financiers who lent him large sums of money.
He was arrested at his home at the weekend.
Police say that Eriksson's $3.5 million car collection , which included a black Ferrari Enzo as well as the red one that was destroyed, should be given over to British finance companies. Scotland Yard is also investigating ownership of one of the cars.
Police spokesman, Deputy Jeff Cannon, said that Eriksson is being held without bail and that immigration authorities have placed a hold on his release because they want to question him about his entry into the US from Sweden.
The Ferrari is one of only 400 in the world and was almost completely destroyed in the crash on the Pacific Coast Highway on February 21st. The crash was reported in the Motors supplement at the time.
Police alleged that Eriksson lied about Karney's presence in the car and made up a story about a "Dietrich", whom he claimed was the driver of the car.
Sergeant Thomas Martin said that Ferrari experts have flown into Los Angeles to inspect the damage on behalf of the finance company.
"To you or I, it looks completely destroyed but Ferrari believe that they can put it back together with enough engineers and enough money," he said.