Plot Thickens in Ferrari Crash
Discussion
www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_3568187
Ferrari mystery leads to Monrovia
Tiny transit service linked to PCH crash
By Gary Scott Staff Writer
MONROVIA - Investigators looking into the high-speed crash of a
Ferrari in Malibu last week have turned their attention to a tiny transit
agency in Monrovia that, according to its own Web site, aspires to be a
cutting-edge antiterrorism squad.
With five buses, a headquarters that doubles as an auto repair shop
and a police department without police officers hidden in a nondescript
strip mall in Arcadia, the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority had operated
in obscurity.
That all changed when the car owned by Stefan Eriksson, a former video
game executive from Sweden, smashed into a concrete utility pole on the
Pacific Coast Highway.
When sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, Eriksson, who claims to
have been a passenger in the car, waved a badge and said he was a police
commissioner with the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority's homeland
security unit.
The claim raised a few eyebrows. The situation took an even stranger
twist when two other men showed up and said they, too, were members of the
unit.
Capt. Tom Martin of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said
he made a few calls to see if anyone had ever heard of the group. No one
had.
"Only in Malibu would something this bizarre happen," Martin said.
"The tentacles that come out of this thing are much more serious than your
average car hitting a concrete pole."
The transit authority is actually a nonprofit shuttle service based in
Monrovia that helps disabled and elderly residents get to appointments.
Digging a little deeper, however, it turns out the obscure agency has its
own police department, complete with badges, weapons permits and a police
chief.
It also has a serious mission statement.
"Our officers are on the front lines, playing a vital role in the
defense of Southern California's homeland security," writes newly appointed
police Chief Philip J. Sugar. "We police one of our nation's highest-level
terror targets - Southern California's transportation system."
In another passage, the transit authority talks about the
susceptibility of "paratransit services" to drug trafficking and touts the
efforts of its undercover narcotics squad, including a K-9 detection team,
in keeping the buses free of illegal substances.
A further investigation shows the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority
has no police officers. It has one daytime dispatcher who is also a
receptionist at Homer's Auto Services. At night, calls to the dispatcher are
routed to an answering service in Georgia.
The only police badges that have been issued are the ones carried by
the five members of the transit authority board, including Sugar. They all
appear to be volunteers.
Sugar, who is also an attorney for the city of Los Angeles, could not
be reached for comment.
In interviews with board members, they say the rationale for creating
the transit authority police is twofold: they had the legal right to do it,
and "it sounds like a cool idea."
The transit agency took shape two years ago, when Yosuf "Yo" Maiwandi
traded a few toy motorcycles to a friend in exchange for a 25-seat passenger
bus.
"It was a joke," said Maiwandi, who owns and operates Homer's Auto
Service on Lemon Street in Monrovia. The business shares an address with the
transit authority.
"Then I got four more buses. As time went on, it got more serious,"
Maiwandi said. "And I found out you can have a security or police force. I
thought, It's legal and it sounds like a cool idea."
Maiwandi recruited several friends to join the governing board. The
list included Ashley Posner, a civil attorney from Sherman Oaks who also
happened to represent Stefan Eriksson.
According to Maiwandi and Posner, Eriksson said he had worked on
camera technology that could be used by police to monitor buses. The transit
authority decided to launch a pilot program.
"We had hoped to get some government grants to pay for it," said
Maiwandi. "Now this guy crashes his car and everyone wants out."
"It was a pilot program to develop a fairly high-tech video
communications device for transit buses," Posner said. "As a result of this
press, everything has been inactivated and we are re-evaluating everything."
As of Friday, the police portion of the transit authority Web site
could no longer be viewed.
The bizarre revelations could also cost the agency its contract to
operate in Monrovia. City Manager Scott Ochoa said he warned Maiwandi early
on that the city did not want him wading into police business.
"I'm having the city attorney review it even as we speak," Ochoa said.
"Police work is serious business. We don't need that confusion tied back to
an operation that does business with the city of Monrovia."
The transit authority also has an agreement to operate in Sierra Madre
and is seeking a memorandum of understanding with Bradbury.
Maiwandi said he plans to forge ahead despite the publicity. And he
does not plan to disband his police department.
Ferrari mystery leads to Monrovia
Tiny transit service linked to PCH crash
By Gary Scott Staff Writer
MONROVIA - Investigators looking into the high-speed crash of a
Ferrari in Malibu last week have turned their attention to a tiny transit
agency in Monrovia that, according to its own Web site, aspires to be a
cutting-edge antiterrorism squad.
With five buses, a headquarters that doubles as an auto repair shop
and a police department without police officers hidden in a nondescript
strip mall in Arcadia, the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority had operated
in obscurity.
That all changed when the car owned by Stefan Eriksson, a former video
game executive from Sweden, smashed into a concrete utility pole on the
Pacific Coast Highway.
When sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, Eriksson, who claims to
have been a passenger in the car, waved a badge and said he was a police
commissioner with the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority's homeland
security unit.
The claim raised a few eyebrows. The situation took an even stranger
twist when two other men showed up and said they, too, were members of the
unit.
Capt. Tom Martin of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said
he made a few calls to see if anyone had ever heard of the group. No one
had.
"Only in Malibu would something this bizarre happen," Martin said.
"The tentacles that come out of this thing are much more serious than your
average car hitting a concrete pole."
The transit authority is actually a nonprofit shuttle service based in
Monrovia that helps disabled and elderly residents get to appointments.
Digging a little deeper, however, it turns out the obscure agency has its
own police department, complete with badges, weapons permits and a police
chief.
It also has a serious mission statement.
"Our officers are on the front lines, playing a vital role in the
defense of Southern California's homeland security," writes newly appointed
police Chief Philip J. Sugar. "We police one of our nation's highest-level
terror targets - Southern California's transportation system."
In another passage, the transit authority talks about the
susceptibility of "paratransit services" to drug trafficking and touts the
efforts of its undercover narcotics squad, including a K-9 detection team,
in keeping the buses free of illegal substances.
A further investigation shows the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority
has no police officers. It has one daytime dispatcher who is also a
receptionist at Homer's Auto Services. At night, calls to the dispatcher are
routed to an answering service in Georgia.
The only police badges that have been issued are the ones carried by
the five members of the transit authority board, including Sugar. They all
appear to be volunteers.
Sugar, who is also an attorney for the city of Los Angeles, could not
be reached for comment.
In interviews with board members, they say the rationale for creating
the transit authority police is twofold: they had the legal right to do it,
and "it sounds like a cool idea."
The transit agency took shape two years ago, when Yosuf "Yo" Maiwandi
traded a few toy motorcycles to a friend in exchange for a 25-seat passenger
bus.
"It was a joke," said Maiwandi, who owns and operates Homer's Auto
Service on Lemon Street in Monrovia. The business shares an address with the
transit authority.
"Then I got four more buses. As time went on, it got more serious,"
Maiwandi said. "And I found out you can have a security or police force. I
thought, It's legal and it sounds like a cool idea."
Maiwandi recruited several friends to join the governing board. The
list included Ashley Posner, a civil attorney from Sherman Oaks who also
happened to represent Stefan Eriksson.
According to Maiwandi and Posner, Eriksson said he had worked on
camera technology that could be used by police to monitor buses. The transit
authority decided to launch a pilot program.
"We had hoped to get some government grants to pay for it," said
Maiwandi. "Now this guy crashes his car and everyone wants out."
"It was a pilot program to develop a fairly high-tech video
communications device for transit buses," Posner said. "As a result of this
press, everything has been inactivated and we are re-evaluating everything."
As of Friday, the police portion of the transit authority Web site
could no longer be viewed.
The bizarre revelations could also cost the agency its contract to
operate in Monrovia. City Manager Scott Ochoa said he warned Maiwandi early
on that the city did not want him wading into police business.
"I'm having the city attorney review it even as we speak," Ochoa said.
"Police work is serious business. We don't need that confusion tied back to
an operation that does business with the city of Monrovia."
The transit authority also has an agreement to operate in Sierra Madre
and is seeking a memorandum of understanding with Bradbury.
Maiwandi said he plans to forge ahead despite the publicity. And he
does not plan to disband his police department.
What have we heard that makes you think Eriksson is a gangster? The man sounds like he's trying to use government grants to develop high tech security cameras while operating a geriatric business. He has local community members on this board of directors. I'm not saying he hasn't broken the law. That street has posted limits on it and he has not right to quadruple his speed. In terms of his business - I don't know what he has done wrong??? In this highly competitive business environment, which constantly shifts paradigms - you have to think creatively. I wish him a quick recovery and hope these hard times don't last.
simonrockman said:
Gizmondo was never a very good idea.
Anyone fancy a Ferrari 360 covered in jizz.....mondo stickers?
Oh I found one here:
www.joemacari.com/stock.htm
A collector's item of the future.
At least they got the name right on that one. Really pissing money away is sponsoring Jordon with a product they never launched. Or at least it would have been if they had paid Jordan.
I went to visit them after recommending to my company not to get involved with them. I wanted to make sure I was right. I left even more convinced that I was.
Unfortunately a friend went against my advice and invested in them.
I bet it'll re-appear as an HTC product.
I went to visit them after recommending to my company not to get involved with them. I wanted to make sure I was right. I left even more convinced that I was.
Unfortunately a friend went against my advice and invested in them.
I bet it'll re-appear as an HTC product.
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