Man Says His Car Was On Test Drive During Oakland Sideshow
OAKLAND (CBS 5) -- A man whose car was spotted performing stunts during a sideshow on Interstate 880 in Oakland on Saturday told CBS 5 his car was involved, but he said someone else was behind the wheel.
"It wasn't me, I wasn't the one driving it," said 35-year-old Erik Dellafosse of Vallejo. "It was my car, yes, but I wasn't driving it."
Delafosse said he was at a car meet in San Leandro on Saturday when a man gave him $7,000 to test drive his bright purple Nissan 240SX with orange rims.
He believes it was during the half-hour test drive that the man participated with several other vehicles in a sideshow on northbound Interstate 880 near the O.co Coliseum that stopped freeway traffic in both directions.
"He was gone for about 30 minutes," Delafosse said. "Then he called his friend [who] told us where my car was, we loaded my car in the tow truck, we came home, and then I started getting hella videos about my car doing donuts on the freeway."
According to the California Highway Patrol, the incident took place around 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Numerous videos posted on YouTube and Facebook showed several cars skidding and performing donuts across all northbound lanes for several minutes before police arrived.
Delafosse said several California Highway Patrol investigators came to his house Wednesday to talk to him about Saturday's incident.
"I let a stupid ass idiot test drive my car ... and now I've got to take care of whatever has to happen," Delafosse said.
Officer Sam Morgan, a CHP spokesman, said no arrests have been made so far. He said investigators are working with prosecutors to put together a case.
"Investigators have received good feedback from witnesses," Morgan said. "We are following up on leads; many of which have been very credible."
Delafosse said he since repainted his car red, "Because my car is hot. What can I do with it? I can't go nowhere with it."
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