A Richmond towing firm employee whose driving is so bad it's a felony allegedly couldn't resist taking a spin in a rap star's gleaming, $311,000 Lamborghini Diablo parked inside his firm's garage. But the high-dollar, Oct. 9 joyride in Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's car ended in a hurry. Henrico police say Joseph Thomas Johnson lost control of the Lamborghini's 550 horses and plowed into a speed limit sign and a tree just three miles from Century Inc., where he worked as a dispatcher. Then he ran, police say, leaving investigators and Century Inc. officials wondering who snatched and demolished Elliott's plum-colored ride. The wondering ended Monday with Johnson's arrest. Elliott, a Portsmouth native widely known as "Miss E," has achieved fame - and a Grammy nomination - for hits such as "Get Ur Freak On" and "Supa Dupa Fly." Century Inc. had been contracted to complete the last leg of her car's transport from California to Elliott's Virginia Beach home for an upcoming photo shoot. "We had had the car for just five hours," said Mark Lienhard, Century's president. They had carefully parked the Diablo inside one of Century's buildings for safekeeping late in the evening on Oct. 8. "We had taken every precaution," Lienhard said. But at 3 o'clock the next morning the 2001 Lamborghini was found wrecked at Thalbro and Westmoreland streets - with no driver in sight, said Henrico police Sgt. Tom Shumate. Initial damage estimate: $161,000.
Lienhard recalled experiencing a sinking feeling when his workers arrived the next morning to find the Lamborghini gone. They immediately reported it stolen. "It just shocks you down to your toes," Lienhard said last night. Johnson, a Henrico County resident, has had a long history of bad driving, court records show. He was declared a habitual offender in 1992 after a drunken driving conviction and numerous other infractions. He was convicted again in June for another drunken driving episode and for driving while being declared a habitual offender, which is a felony. But he has been a good employee, Lienhard said. "He seemed pretty steady, good with the customers." Lienhard said he was aware of some of Johnson's driving woes, which is why he was a dispatcher instead of a driver. Now Lienhard is experiencing another kind of sinking feeling: How much this is going to cost his firm. He said he's afraid it could be painful.
"Fifteen years I've been doing this," he said. "This is the first time something like this has happened. "Shumate said evidence in the car led them to arrest Johnson, who was charged with reckless driving, hit-and-run, grand larceny and driving while being a habitual offender. Johnson was being held in Henrico's jail in lieu of $33,500 bond pending a Jan. 22 hearing. Initially the damaged Lamborghini was going to be sent to Italy for repairs, Shumate said, but the cost of repairs now appears to exceed the Lamborghini's value.
UPDATE:
A joy rider that wrecked a $300,000 Lamborghini sports car due to be delivered to Missy Elliot has been sentenced to three years imprisonment.
The Lamborghini Diablo was in storage in Richmond, Virginia in October of 2001 after being shipped from California when Joseph Thomas Henry decided to take it for a 'test drive'.
The stunt, that recalls a scene from cult teen film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, ended in tears when Henry lost control of the car just three miles from the garage smashing it through a road sign, curbs and into a tree.
In addition to the prison sentence, Henry was charged with paying $170,000 in compensation and $1,975 for public damage.
"This is not a typical unauthorized-use case by any means, your honour," Attorney Mike Huberman said to the judge during sentencing. "He takes a vehicle that is worth more than most houses and totals it."
Diablo Wreck - The story behind it..
Linear Mode
