Exotic cars and foreign royalty are nothing new to Beverly
Hills.
But a
video showing a yellow Ferrari valued in the seven-figures speeding
through stop signs and blazing past pedestrians has generated anger among
residents and presented a case for police tinged with international intrigue.
For several days, there's been a mystery over who owned the
car. But officials revealed Thursday that the owner is Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad
al Thani of Qatar's ruling family.
Al Thani is well-known in the international racing world and
has been dubbed the “patron sheikh” of drag racing by the media.
The video showed the Ferrari and a Porsche speeding through
narrow residential streets in Beverly Hills, prompting residents to call
police. By the time an officer arrived, the two cars were outside a home on
Walden Drive. Authorities said officers talked to Al Thani and that he denied
he was driving the car. He also said he had diplomatic immunity, officials
said.
After contacting the U.S. State Department and the Qatari
consulate, police concluded that the sheikh did not have such immunity, police
Chief Dominick Rivetti said during a news conference Thursday.
But since the racing video went viral, Al Thani has fled the
country, police said. The Ferrari and the Porsche also were gone.
Police say they have been unable to prove who was behind the
wheel of the cars. Investigators have not been able to find anyone willing to
identify the drivers, Lt. Lincoln Hoshino said.
“No one produced any evidence of who was at the wheel of the
two cars,” Hoshino said. “The drivers weren't visible on the videos or
photographs.”
They've been known to come and stay in the summer with their
nice cars. For the most part, they're very laid back and mellow.- Adam
Bornstein, a car enthusiast, of the Qatari visitors
Adam Bornstein, a car enthusiast who posted the video
online, said that up until that incident, the visitors from Qatar had kept a
low profile in the city.
“They've been known to come and stay in the summer with
their nice cars. For the most part, they're very laid-back and mellow,” he
said.
Al Thani had been staying at the Beverly Wilshire hotel.
When Bornstein heard that there was a Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 911 GT3 in
Beverly Hills, he and his friend went by to check it out.
That's when they saw the vehicles peel out in the
neighborhood and speed around other motorists.
“It was pretty quick … a spur-of-the-moment thing,” he said
of the drivers. “The bottom line — for the whole car community, it's definitely
a sad representation. … The whole buzz is everybody's upset that this does not
accurately represent what it's like.”
Al Thani was for year a high-profile sponsor of Al-Anabi
Racing on the professional drag-racing circuit.
The Times reported that Al Thani formed a team in 2008 with
drag-racing crew chief Alan Johnson. The team won championships in top fuel —
the most elite class of dragsters — in 2010, 2011 and 2013 with three different
drivers. Also in 2013, Al Thani signed a five-year contract extension with
Johnson.
But this year, Al Thani unexpectedly pulled out of the team
that he had reportedly been funding at $10 million annually.
Chief Rivetti said at the news conference that Al Thani's
status would play no role in the investigation. Beverly Hills, he said, applies
the law equally regardless of “who you are, who you know or where you are from.”
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