Gizmondo chief finally arrested for being too shady

We shamelessly ripped this headline verbatim from the subject of reader Dave M's tip, because, well, it's just so perfect, isn't it? Specifically, former Tiger Telematics Europe executive and drunk driving enthusiast Stefan Eriksson was arrested at his Bel-Air residence on Saturday, booked on suspicion of grand theft, and is currently enjoying decidedly less-luxurious surroundings, as the Sheriff's Department is wisely holding the slippery Swede without bail. It's not immediately clear whether the theft charge is related to Eriksson's destruction of that million dollar Ferrari Enzo in February (pictured in cake, above), but since we'd already heard that a Scottish bank may be the rightful owners of the mangled supercar, we wouldn't be surprised if the former videogame exec is guilty of playing a little real life GTA along with his favorite DUI. Meanwhile, Eriksson's imaginary friend and supposed co-conspirator, "Dietrich," remains at large.

[Thanks, Dave M]

[Richie @ Apr 9th 2006 2:35PM]

I believe this is worthy of a "lawl".

[blahblah @ Apr 9th 2006 3:00PM]

Is this for real? The guy looks like a dirtybag, no doubt, but to post a story on Engadget about it? That's rather peurile, low-brow, and small if you ask me.

[Geek Girl @ Apr 9th 2006 3:06PM]

Gizmondo

not gizmodo

[abigsmurf @ Apr 9th 2006 3:10PM]

erm don't all cars on finance technically belong to a bank?

[Guillermo @ Apr 9th 2006 3:12PM]

Whoever made that cake is a culinary genius.

[SLR @ Apr 9th 2006 3:30PM]

"Several weeks ago, police in Beverly Hills stopped Eriksson's wife, Nicole Persson, 33, and discovered that she had no driver's license and that the Mercedes McLaren had no U.S. registration. Brooks said police subsequently discovered that the car had been reported stolen in England." http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/09/FERRARI.TMP

[Bweetza @ Apr 9th 2006 3:49PM]

Made for TV Movie. Mark my words. You just can't make this stuff up.

[baudbwoy @ Apr 9th 2006 4:18PM]

what is "lawl"?

[hackman_3vilGuy @ Apr 9th 2006 4:28PM]

Engadget is really a bit obsessed with cake.

[kb @ Apr 9th 2006 4:38PM]

ha! there is a gizmondo office right down the street from us in austin. it's an old movie theater, so it has a marquis. the entire time i've lived here (couple years), they've been putting witty sayings up there to amuse passers by. anyway, about a week or so ago, the witty sayings were replaced by "for rent".

[us @ Apr 9th 2006 6:11PM]

Known criminal from Sweden.

[Brian @ Apr 9th 2006 6:47PM]

Awesome Gizmondo-Enzo cake diorama, but you guys forgot the Glock magazine made out of a 100 Grand bar!

[MaxCage @ Apr 9th 2006 7:46PM]

Looks like someone's got busted! Well, I know its sad for all the Gizmondo fans, don't worry! Big shots, enter and exit prison in flash. So, keep GTAing!

[robin @ Apr 9th 2006 7:55PM]

i sent that one in some time ago... didn't get posted.

[ken fager @ Apr 10th 2006 2:18AM]

Forgive me a cruel chuckle... hahaha...

Now if only we could imprison the creators of the N-Gage. That thing was criminal.

[neale @ Apr 10th 2006 8:37AM]

cool-kewl, lol-lawl

[Dietrich @ Apr 10th 2006 9:41AM]

Is somebody looking for me?

[ResidentGamer @ Apr 10th 2006 11:28AM]

LOL! How made that cake picture that is just wrong!!!!

[Gordon @ Apr 10th 2006 3:41PM]

"Pictured in cake, above"

Post of the year. Heh, that made my day.

[Brad @ Apr 10th 2006 6:18PM]

Gizmondo sucks anyways!

[ME @ Apr 11th 2006 7:53AM]

http://what.se/article.asp?id=4251 more about Tjock-Steffe!

[wow gold @ Apr 11th 2006 10:00AM]

$100 says this guy won't spend more than a few months (if any time at all) in jail.

[mj @ Apr 18th 2006 3:15PM]

a little more of the story here:
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=11877195&src=rss/oddlyEnoughNews

[The Swedish Mafia LA @ Apr 27th 2006 2:37AM]

They finally got Carl Freer in jail, too. See this:

'Impersonating an Officer' Charge Added to Bizarre Ferrari Case
By Richard Winton and David Pierson
Times Staff Writer

4:35 PM PDT, April 26, 2006

A business associate of the man accused of crashing his rare Ferrari in Malibu this year was arrested today for allegedly posing as a police officer to buy guns.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said that Carl Freer flashed a badge from an obscure San Gabriel Valley transit authority and claimed he was a sworn police officer so that he could purchase guns from a dealer without the required background checks. Authorities said he also signed documents swearing he was a sworn officer.

The detectives said they found 12 rifles and four handguns during searches of Freer's Bel-Air estate and on his 100-foot yacht Brigatta, docked at Marina del Rey. They say at least one gun, a .44 magnum, was obtained illegally and are checking on the others.

Freer, 35, was a top executive at a failed European videogame company Gizmondo along with Stefan Eriksson, who drove the Ferrari. Eriksson has been charged with grand theft, embezzlement and DUI charges in connection with the accident.

Both men were also members of the "anti-terrorism police commission" of the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority, a small private company that provides rides to disabled people and the elderly in Monrovia and Sierra Madre. Both men were issued badges by the authority.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said that neither Freer nor Eriksson would have been allowed to purchase guns in the United States because they are foreign nationals.

"We have a wider investigation into who has given police identification by this supposed police agency," Whitmore said.

Meanwhile, detectives are continuing to explore why a handgun belonging to a reserve deputy for the Orange County Sheriff's Department was found at the Bel-Air mansion.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies confiscated the gun during a raid at Eriksson's home. Whitmore confirmed Wednesday that the .357 magnum Smith & Wesson was registered to Roger A. Davis, a Newport Beach businessman and deputy with the Orange County sheriff's professional services division. Davis also serves on Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's Advisory Committee.

Davis was issued a permit to carry a concealed weapon by the Orange County Sheriff's Department in August 2002 for self-protection, according to public records.

The disclosure comes as Carona has come under criticism for his large expansion of the reserve deputy program, in which he has given badges � and in some cases concealed-weapon permits � to volunteers with no police training.