Outrage Mounts Over Beverly Hills Luxury Cars Street Race After Driver Claims Diplomatic Immunity
BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA.com) – A Beverly Hills street race between pricey luxury cars is continuing to rev up controversy.
CBS2's Cristy Fajardo said the race is also causing outrage among residents.
The drivers blew through stop signs and sped through residential streets Monday.
Beverly Hills police confirm the U.S. State Department is using diplomatic channels to help detectives.
Angry residents told Fajardo they want to see the drivers charged. Since the driver of at least one car is claiming diplomatic immunity, that will be impossible.
"Laws are laws, people are people. I don't care where they come from," said Roya Levian.
But where they come from could be a problem.
The yellow Ferrari has plates from the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar.
If the drivers, in fact, have diplomatic immunity, they are protected from prosecution by an international treaty.
The consulate of Qatar had no comment. The embassy in Washington didn't return Fajardo's calls. Neither did the State Department.
Beverly Hills police say since the videos don't show who's driving, they don't know if diplomatic immunity applies. But they add it's a moot point as an officer wasn't there to witness the race.
CBS2/KCAL9 legal expert Steve Meister concurs.
"If police deem these crimes misdemeanors, then either the officers had to have witnessed the crimes themselves or the neighbors who witnessed the crimes have to be willing to place the suspects under citizen's arrest," Meister said.
Police say neither scenario happened during this incident.
And although it's clear laws were broken, it could be one case where the only justice or consequence, reported Fajardo, "is seeing a $1 million-plus sports car smoking and limping into the driveway."