Deport The Criminals First (Guest Blogger Edition Vol. 2)
[posted by Justin Levine]
A busy week for this topic. The problem cuts across all races and classes folks.
Check out who else managed to sneak in across our borders:
A 17-month search for a mysterious witness to a high-speed crash that left a $1-million Ferrari Enzo in pieces in Malibu has ended with the arrest of a 26-year-old Marina del Rey man.
Trevor Michael Karney was in custody today on misdemeanor charges of drunk driving, resisting arrest and giving false information to a police officer, along with a possible federal immigration violation, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.
Authorities said Karney is apparently the fictitious “Dietrich” who fled after the Feb. 21, 2006, crash that left the Ferrari — one of only 400 ever built — strewn in pieces over 1,200 feet of Pacific Coast Highway.
Investigators said he apparently hid out in Ireland before sneaking back into the U.S. through Mexico.
The article actually doesn’t specify what nationality this guy is. It implies that he might be from Ireland, but he could have American citizenship for all I know (even though he decided to sneak back in illegally). Regardless, this story still serves to illustrate the extent of the problem.
[posted by Justin Levine]
Funny. He lost a $1M dollar Ferrari. I love it.
Christoph (92b8f7) — 8/10/2007 @ 9:04 pmthe insurance company lost a $1m dollar ferrari.
i remember this story from the morning after the ferrari was wrecked. i marvelled at someone surviving a 100 mph + crash on the coast highway, and i remember the alleged driver’s account of “dietrich”.
i specifically remember thinking that “dietrich” was probably a made-up, fictitious person. absent a confession, it’s gonna be hard to cast anybody beyond a reasonable doubt in this elusive role.
assistant devil's advocate (83a339) — 8/10/2007 @ 10:01 pmWe agree! Deport the criminals first. That said, entering the US illegally is criminal.
Kevin (4890ef) — 8/10/2007 @ 11:34 pmThis link has more details:
http://www.knbc.com/news/13865064/detail.html
Karney is originally from Ireland, although I suppose he might be a naturalized US citizen.
But the man who was the actual driver might illustrate the problem even better than Karney:
(from the same link:)
“Eriksson, a Swedish national, was sentenced in November of 2006 to three years in state prison after pleading no contest to embezzlement and being a felon with a firearm — charges that authorities developed while investigating the Ferrari crash.”
Following the links from this article reveals he was convicted in Sweden on fraud charges in 1994, which means he shouldn’t have been in the US in the first place. Apparently, he’s to be released at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, and he’s supposed to be deported. (We’ll see.) But his lawyer hints he won’t be going to Sweden.
kishnevi (03a14b) — 8/11/2007 @ 7:18 amThis guy should be arrested for the crime of wrecking that beautiful Ferrari Enzo. If you love cars like I do, that’s almost like murder, or wife beating. 6 liter V-12, 650hp, 6-speed F1 transmission, 212mph top speed, 0-60mph 3.4 seconds.
WOW.
brian (230964) — 8/11/2007 @ 7:29 amAs I commented to several friends in the Ferrari-owning community at the time, I would venture to say that in a few years we will see this particular ENZO for sale. With F-1 construction technology, and a bushel-basket of money, almost any car can be re-built to new.
Another Drew (8018ee) — 8/11/2007 @ 10:10 amI am confident that ALL of the bits and pieces were swept up, put into a container, and eventually found their way back to Maranello for re-assembly/restoration.
Find the VIN in the court docs, mark it down, and check it against all future ENZO sales – eventually it will show up. And, who knows, the seller might even brag about the history of the car.
The Lions and the Water Buffalo-An Analogy
There is a video on Youtube going across the Internet currently. Shot in Africa, it shows a pride of lions attacking a herd of water buffalo that have come to drink at a body of water. As the buffalo flee (as they generally do), a calf is caught by the lions at the edge of the water. As the lions work on killing the calf, a crocodile tries to get in on the action, grabbing the calf from the rear and engaging the lions in a tug of war, eventually won by the lions. Then, as the lions try to finish off the calf, something unusual happens. The herd of buffalo suddenly decide they have had enough and return to the scene to save their calf. For the next several minutes, the buffalo herd does battle with the outnumbered lions and actually prevail in driving off the predators after flipping a few of them into the air with their horns. The calf is saved and the lions retreat to lick their wounds and ponder their defeat.
This reminds me of an incident I observed in Berlin many years ago (1970). I was walking down one of the city’s main streets when I observed an altercation at a stop light. Two big biker-type dirtbags were in a car waiting for the light to turn green. Yet, when the light changed, they were not paying attention causing the driver behind them to toot his horn. Taking offense, the two thugs got out of their car and confronted the other driver, a small wimpy looking guy in glasses and a suit. After a few threats, one of the hoodlums began chasing the poor guy across the street into a park. Finally cornered, the little guy cowered in fear awaiting the knockout blow. At this point, the bad guy wound up and threw a roundhouse right that not only missed its target, but caused him to fall to the ground in a scene reminiscient of Laurel and Hardy. Suddenly, the little guy realized he could stand up for himself. Now, I watched the lion being chased back across the street by the water buffalo. Back to the original scene, the bad guy was cowering against the wall while Mr Peepers was threatening to thrash him. The other bad guy stood by sheepishly, afraid to help out his buddy. Final result? The good guy won, and I had a good laugh. True story-I am not making this up, but then again, Germany is not the US.
Why do I relate these two stories? Because they carry a message. First of all, bullies are cowards. More importantly, there is an analogy to the current problems we face in the world today, first in regards to the criminal predators in our society, and secondly to international terrorism. In both instances, we have the numbers and the ability to stand up to these two menaces. The question is-do we have the will? Do we feel the anger that would enable us to rise up and defeat these foes? Sometimes I wonder. When I see the outrageous actions of British Muslims and the seeming desire of British politicians to appease them, a la Neville Chamberlain, I wonder. When I see a similar attitude by other European countries who are faced with a genuinely hostile Muslim minority, I wonder.When I see hateful demonstrations by Muslim activists on US campuses, directed not only at Israel, but also against America and Jews in general, demonstrations that are “tolerated” by university leaders, such as the school where I teach (UC Irvine), I wonder. When I see the silence of peaceful Muslims and the reluctance of most to confront and defeat the Jiahdists in their midst, I wonder. When I see a group of Imams, clearly orchestrating an incident designed to get them thrown off a plane and sue the airline and the passengers who reported them, I wonder. When I see our own national leaders unwilling to control our borders and maintain our sovreignty, I wonder. When I see our local leaders, like Mayor Villaraigosa in LA and other cities like Newark, declare themselves sanctuary cities, even at the cost of having their own people murdered by an illegal alien, as in the case of the latter, I wonder. When I see a town like Hazelton, Pa, try to pass regulations designed at driving out illegal aliens, only to be told by the federal courts that they have no right to do so, I wonder. When I see liberal judges putting us at risk by not putting violent predators, especially those who prey against our children, in jail, I wonder.
Is it not time for the water buffalo of the world to realize that we can and must stand up to the lions? This is not a call for vigilanteism. We have the laws and the structure necessary to deal with these problems. All we need is the will.
gary fouse
fouse, gary c (66ebf8) — 8/11/2007 @ 12:56 pmfousesquawk
Good post Gary!
The problem with will, is the requirement of being judgemental – you have to determine who is the threat, and what course needs to be set upon to neutralize/defeat that threat.
For at least fourty years now, we have had judgement cleansed from our souls (or so the Progressives would like).
We can defeat evil, we just have to decide that doing nothing is the worst of all possible courses of action.
Another Drew (8018ee) — 8/11/2007 @ 5:49 pmThis raises an interesting question–is it illegal for an American citizen to come back into the US without growing through an immigration point? Can an American citizen “sneak” into the US without charge? Does anyone know the law on this point? Thanks.
pam (94ab97) — 8/12/2007 @ 8:08 am